


The Legacy of Humanity – A Splatoon fanfic

by Chigger



Series: Humanity - Splatoon [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cultural Differences, F/M, Friendship, Headcanon, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-08-08 22:04:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 34
Words: 161,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7775362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chigger/pseuds/Chigger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A splatoon story featuring the fall of humanity and the origins of Judd, to the battle of Octovalley and beyond. Contains multiple perspectives which include one of the last 100 humans left on earth, the awkward agents 3 and 4, an Octoling that will do anything to save her race, and of course, the squid sisters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

The Legacy of Humanity – A Splatoon fanfic.

Intro and Authors Notes: (Skip to the next chapter if you just want to jump into the story.)

Parts of this fanfic are based off of hero mode and the backstory, so expect spoilers. This is also my first fanfic. I had the sudden urge to make a Splatoon fan game on rpg maker, but since I don't have the graphical resources or the skill to make them, I decided to try my hand at actual writing.

Notes: 1 for the purpose of this fanfic, we're going to assume that Octavio is a military officer, like Cuttlefish, rather than the supreme ruler. 2 Getting splatted without the support of a spawn pad, will result in paralysis instead of instant death, though an overdose will still kill. 3. Inklings and Octarians can tolerate some water, as long is it's freshwater, it's clean, and they don't go in deep. 4. Most of the adult Inklings are in the army because of tensions with the Octarians. 5 Callie and Marie are young adults. 6. Octovalley is considered neutral territory between the Octarians and Inklings.

These are probably at odds with what Nintendo had in mind, but hey, it's a fanfic. Their fault for leaving so much open. Also, this is my first time writing something for real, and my proofing skills suck. This will likely stay in first draft form.

Additional note: The first prologue is kinda corny and painful to read as it was to write, but I kinda had to do it that way to establish the mental state of one of the characters, as well as how badly the humans screwed up. Also, the corny description on Judd's pod is right out of the last sunken scroll.

All characters and themes from Splatoon are owned by Nintendo. I don't read many other fanfics, so any original chars or story elements that are similar to other works are 100% coincidence.

OC Bios:

Levin Akkoro: A 16 Year old Inkling boy, and turf war rookie. His weapon of choice is the ranged blaster. His base color is blue, and his eyes are green. He is average height for an Inkling. He wears a white headband, Rockenburg white, and blue sea slugs.

Shara Taiga: A 17 year old Inkling girl, and turf war veteran. Her weapon is a splattershot pro. Her base color is orange, and her eyes are yellow. She is a little on the short side. She wears retro specs, a camo zip hoodie, and icy down boots.

Kirk Kelpie: A 15 year old inkling boy with moderate turf war experience. His weapon is the mini splatling. His base color is green, and eyes are blue. He is tall for his age. He wears stealth goggles, a baseball jersey, and blue moto boots.

Neptune Sireness: A 16 Year old Inkling girl, with veteran level experience. Her weapon is the .52 Gal. Her base color is pink, and her eyes are purple. Her height is slightly below average, and she wears her tentacles in a pigtail style. Her gear is studio headphones, retro sweat, and acerola rain boots.

Frost: Levin's friend, and the one who got him into the turf war games. He is also a huge squid sisters fanboy. His teammates are Bass, Citra, and Sandy.

Otome Maroon: A 17 year old Octoling girl, who is part of the faction that is trying to avoid war. During her down time, she enjoys learning about history, and the extinct species. She uses standard Octoling weapons and gear. Her tentacles are red, her eyes yellow-green, and she is a little tall for her race.

Kelly: The leader of Otome's team. The two Octolings share a close friendship, despite their rank differences.

Drake Von Kaufmann: 21 year old chief of security at the Eden Facility. He uses rifles and handguns. His hair is brown, and eyes are blue. He is over a head taller than an Inkling or an Octoling. He wears body armor and a helmet.


	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A 2 part prologue that details the fall of humanity 12,000 years ago.

Prologue 1 - To reap what is sewn

Earth 2017 A.D.

Pollution levels, both in the air and the sea, are at critical levels. Scientists have long warned of the dangers of global warming, but the politicians refuse to act on it, and the general population is too occupied with trivial matters to care. Thanks to this inaction, the summer of 2017 reaches record temperatures across the globe. The already melting polar icecaps reach their breaking point, and ocean levels begin to raise at drastic rates.

Earth 2018 A.D.

Half of the existing land masses are now underwater. The remaining nations decide to put their faith in a project that, until a few years ago, had been abandoned due to lack of funding. Project Eden, as it would be known, is now humanities last hope. The project called for the construction of two spacecraft that were larger than anything ever launched in the history of human space travel. Leading the project is professor Manfred Von Kaufmann, who is also the creator of the cryogenic sleeper capsules needed to make the journey.

Earth 2019 A.D.

Humanity is on its knees. Only four hundred humans are left at the Eden Facility. They no longer have the time or resources to complete the second craft, and even the first had to be rushed to completion. Thus, only three hundred of the four hundred survivors would make it into space. The rest would be left behind in the remaining cryogenic pods to await the day when the space faring humans would return for them after finding a new home. The day of the launch has come, and Manfred's son, Drake, is left with a life changing decision to make. One that would affect more than he could ever know.

Earth 2019 A.D... the day of project Eden's launch...

"You're getting on that ship!" Drake Von Kaufmann had spent the last half hour arguing with his best friend, Hannah. She stared at him with her green eyes, and her red ponytail fluttered in the breeze from the ventilation system. Not very much time was left until the Eden craft would be launched, and he knew he had to convince her to leave.

"But what about you?" Hanna responded. "You earned your spot on this ship. All those bandit attacks you, and your team, fought off? We wouldn't be having this launch at all, if not for the security forces. Especially after Captain Tran's death!" Hannah pleaded with Drake to reconsider, but he would have none of it.

"All the more reason for me to stay," Drake said. "I wouldn't feel right if I was the only member of first squad to leave." Drake paused, and looked Hannah right in the eye. "And if I left you behind, I would never forgive myself."

"But..." Hannah started to argue again, but Drake cut her off.

"And what use would I be in the new colony?" Hannah went silent. "Most of the people on that ship are either scientists, or children. Those kids will need someone kind to look after them in their new life." Drake was determined to end this conversation now, as Commander Mclarrin had started the countdown. "Someone like you. You have always been good with kids." Drake took his boarding pass, and placed it in Hannah's hand. "I'm staying behind, and that is that. Someone has to make sure the old man and Mclarrin, don't kill each other."

Hannah looked at Drake, fighting back tears. "You're my best friend. You have always been there for me when I needed it the most."

"I know," Drake said, and looked away. "I feel the same way." He turned to face her again. "Even if the project goes according to plan, I doubt we will see each other again. It will be ages before the Eden Colony has the resources or means to come back for us." There was more Drake wanted to say, but he didn't want to make things more difficult than they already were. Hannah knew he was right, and while that made it all the more difficult to leave, deep down she knew this was what was best for both of them. She hugged her best friend one last time and turned away.

"I promise that we will come back for you and the others." She paused before saying her final goodbyes. "Take care, Drake"

"You too, Hannah." And with that, she boarded the Eden ship, and would never see him again. Drake left the gantry, and headed to where his father was waiting.

"Son." Manfred reached out to Drake's shoulder, while looking him in the eye. "As a father, I would have much preferred you left on that ship."

"I know," said Drake, brushing his father's hand off.

"But that was a very brave thing you did, and I'm proud of you." What he said next shocked Drake. "But are you sure it's okay for her to leave with out telling her how you really feel?"

Drake stared at his father for a moment. "How did you know?"

"I may have been busy with my work, but I'm still your father."

Drake thought for a moment before replying. "Yes, I love her, but what good would it do? We will never see each other again. Why make this any more complicated?"

Manfred was impressed. "I understand," he said, and his expression changed to one of concern. "But don't let those feelings bottle up inside you. We have a lot of preparations to make before we can start the cryogenic process, and you don't want that eating away at you."

"I know, dad. I'll find some way of distracting myself when I'm not busy. Maybe I'll finish one of those games Brandon and Takeshi let me borrow."

"Well, we should get to the control room. There is still a few minute until launch, and Commander Mclarrin will have a fit if I'm not there".

"Right..." The two left the launch bay.

In the control room, Commander Mclarrin was pacing impatiently. 'Where is he?' She thought to herself. 'We have already delayed the launch once, and he knows I want him here.' She was about to reach for the intercom, when the door opened, and Manfred and his son, walked in. She thought about chewing him out, but after watching what his son did from the control room, she let it pass and simply motioned for Manfred to take his station.

"I'll watch from over here," Drake said, as he sat near the door.

Manfred sat at his station and glanced at the monitors. "Everything checks out," he said to Mclarrin. "We can launch any time."

The countdown was seconds away from completion. Mclarrin took the radio and signaled the Eden craft. "Control to Eden craft, you are clear for launch as soon as the hanger doors are open."

The response came immediately. "Roger, control. All non essential personal are in their cryogenic pods, and all systems are go on our end."

"Open the hanger doors!" Mclarrin was barking orders at a pace that surprised Drake. While he didn't know Mclarrin as well as his father, he did know that she was the type to do everything strictly by the book and never take any chances. This was the first time he saw her rush anything.

"Bay doors open!" One of the nearby techs shouted. Mclarrin hesitated for a moment, then handed the radio to Manfred.

"This is control, you are go for launch. Good luck out there."

The voice on the radio responded for the last time. "Roger, control. We'll find a new world for every one to be proud of. Good luck with your cryo sleep." With a load roar, the Eden craft's engines came to life, and the giant shuttle departed for the stars.

 

Prologue 2 - The eternal slumber.

3 days later...

Drake was in his bunk and playing his handheld game, while Judd, the Eden facilities cat and mascot, napped by his side. Judd was originally the pet of Manfred's assistant, who was supposed to stay behind until is father insisted that he would be the one to stay. His reasoning was that the Eden ship would need a younger crew member to maintain the cryobeds, and Manfred would be the best choice to look after the stranded survivors.

"Tough luck, huh?" Drake said to the cat, who looked at him with a puzzled expression. "We both parted with people we care about yesterday." Drake stroked the cats ears for a few minutes before getting up. "Well, guess I'd better go see how the preparations for the cryogenic pods are going." Judd got up, and followed him out into the corridor. Brandon and Takeshi, two of the guards from first squad, noticed him, and walked over.

"Hey, Drake," Brandon said with a tone of concern. He had black hair, and behind the glasses, dark blue eyes. "How are you holding up?."

"Could be better, but I'll live."

"Did you play that game I lent you?" Takeshi chimed in. The second guard had brown eyes and light brown hair. Both guards were fairly tall, and were in their armored uniforms. "That one will lift anybody spirits," he continued.

Brandon flashed him a look, while adjusting his glasses. "Oh yeah? Knowing you, it was another one of those fan service filled games." Takeshi pretended to look shocked.

"What is this slander? Here I am trying to do something nice for Drake."

Drake rolled his eyes, but what he said was true for once. "Actually, this one was pretty good. Which is surprising, considering cute girls is the only thing Takeshi looks for in a game."

"I aim to please, bro. Next time I'll lend you that game about the four goddesses." Takeshi smirked, and took a closer look at Drake. "But if you can make comments like that, I would say that was the perfect medicine for you."

Brandon sighed, but chose not to dwell on the subject. "By the way, Drake. Were you heading to the cryo lab?"

"Yeah, I was going to find out how much time we had until the final phase of Eden went into effect."

"Well, we were thinking of having one last poker game before we all went to sleep. Matt, Reggie and Justin, will be there too, and we were hoping you would join us."

"If I have time. For now, I'm going to go check in with dad."

"Alright, let us know how it goes." Takeshi and Brandon, went into the barracks that Drake had just come out of. Drake headed to the cryolab with Judd still in tow. After walking a bit, Drake picked up the cat, and carried him the rest of the way, while he purred softly. Just before he reached the cryogen bay, the door suddenly burst open, and Commander Mclarrin stormed out.

"Something wrong?" Drake asked, pretending to be concerned.

"Oh no, what could possibly be wrong?" Mclarrin snapped. "Just the usual. You're father is trying to rush things, while I'm busy making sure we have the best chance of survival. I don't know why we agreed to trust this unproven cryogenic technology. It needed more testing, but your father insists we freeze ourselves today!"

"Well, I'm sure he had his reasons. We do only have a limited supply of food, you know." Mclarrin just glared at him with no way to refute that. "And as most people would say, nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"I prefer no foolish risks taken, and no lives lost!" Mclarrin shouted, clearly getting even more irritated. "But why am I even arguing with a security officer about this? The decision has been made, and we go to sleep today. I suggest you get your affairs in order." Mclarrin stormed off, and Drake sighed as he entered the Cryogen lab. Manfred was typing something on one of the computers, when he saw Drake enter.

"Hey, Drake. What brings you here?"

"I hear you had another argument with the Commander."

"You heard that, huh?" His middle aged father turned towards the monitor. "I hate to say this, but there is a chance that the Eden ship will never return for us. Even if they reach their new home, it will be sometime before they are able to come back for us. If they can at all." Manfred's face darkened. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you second guess your decision to let Hannah take your place on the Eden craft. I'm just saying that we should be prepared for the event that we may be on our own when we awaken. If that happens, we are going to need all the resources we can get, and the longer we prolong our stasis, the less we will have when the time comes."

Drake shuddered at the thought of Hannah and the others never making it to their new home, but he knew his father was right. "Well, forget Commander Mclarrin. It sounds like we go in the freezer tonight."

"Yeah, the announcement will be made in an hour." Manfred noticed that Drake was holding Judd. "Oh, you have the cat with you? Perfect timing". Drake looked at his father, clearly confused. "I'm a bit worried about the effect the stasis pod will have on him, so I would like to run a few tests and put him in the special pod before the rest of us enter stasis."

"What do you mean? Didn't we already try it on the live stock?"

"True, but I don't know how a feline will fare. Do you mind leaving him with me?"

"Alright." Drake handed his father the cat, and started to leave the room. "I'm going to see to my squad. I'll see you at dinner."

With Drake out of the room, Manfred took the cat over to workbench. "Sorry little guy, but I don't want Drake to see this." He grabbed a syringe filled with a special serum he had prepared a few hours ago. The serum was a prototype mutagen Manfred had developed in secret. "This might sting a bit, but it will be for your own good. I don't know what state the world will be when we wake up, but with this..." Manfred paused and wondered if he was really doing the right thing. No, he couldn't second guess himself now. "With this, you will have the best chance at surviving the unknown. Even if we are not there to see it with you." Manfred then Injected Judd with the mutagen.

The effects of the injection were noticeable almost immediately. His body began to change. His head grew, and his tail changed shape. But more importantly, the cat's mind changed. Evolved even. Judd looked at Manfred, and Manfred stared right back at him. He saw something in his eyes. Not the eyes of a scared animal, but eyes that hinted at true intelligence. The mutagen had been a success.

Just then, a loud bang on the door startled Manfred and brought him back to his senses. It was Mclarrin, and she was demanding Manfred accompany her to the control room to make the announcement of the cryogen sleep. He jerked up, and bumped into the table that held the rest of the mutagen sample, knocking it over. The canister fell, and shattered as it hit the floor, leaking the mutagen all over. He cursed as he watched the mutagen flow down the drain.

"Manfred! You in there? What was that sound?" Mclarrin banged on the door again.

"It's nothing! I just broke an empty test tube. I'll be right out, so give me a minute."

"Well, Hurry it up!" Mclarrin shouted back. Manfred quickly mopped up the remaining mutagen, while sighing with relief as he remembered the drains in the lab didn't lead to the treatment plant, but rather outside to already polluted oceans. All Manfred could do, was hope what little ocean life remained wouldn't come in contact with it before it could dissolve.

Before heading out, he took Judd, who was standing on his hind legs and watching him, and placed him into the special cryogen pod that his assistant had prepared in advance for him. The cat looked at Manfred with confused eyes as the pod closed and the freezing process started. With in minutes, the cat was frozen. Manfred checked the vital readings and sighed with relief when the monitors indicated that Judd was alive. The freezing processes was successful. "I hope Drake, or my assistant, never find out what happened here," he said to himself.

As he prepared to head out with the increasingly agitated Mclarrin, he noticed the words inscribed on Judd's pod by his assistant. "Oh, my beloved Judd... It seems the day has finally come. This capsule is designed to remain cryogenically sealed for 10,000 years. Good-bye, my purrfect little kitty cat. May your meows echo through the ages."

Manfred's first thought was awe at how much his assistant adored that cat. He must have really loved him to write something so corny. This made him feel even more guilty about testing the mutagen on Judd, but then he noticed something odd about it. 10,000 years? Yes, with the hydroelectric systems, and the facility itself being airtight, the pods, in theory, could last that long, but they were only planning to sleep for 300 years. "Well, maybe that was just the worst case scenario," Manfred said to himself, as he left the lab with Mclarrin.

Later that day...

"So, he's okay?" Drake asked his father, inquiring about Judd.

"Yeah, he's fine. I would like to talk more, but it's time for us to sleep. We will see each other again. I just hope it's the future we all planned for." Manfred left to take his station overseeing the cryogenic pods. Drake remembered that his father would be the last one to enter stasis to ensure the other survivors were in good condition, and that no pods malfunctioned.

"You know, I really wish they had given us some meat for our last meal. That crap from the agridome was atrocious." Drake looked over, and saw Matt, a brawny security officer, complaining in his pod.

Reggie, the dark skinned nerdy guard, was next to chime in. "Well, what did you expect? We need to save the limited live stock we have for when we really need it. Those might be the last cows left on earth, you know."

"Yeah? Well that doesn't mean I have to like it, smart ass". Drake ignored their argument, and turned to Justin, the team medic.

"So, how is everybody holding up?" Drake asked.

Justin took out the results of their check ups, and handed them to Drake. "They all check out. As long as the cryopods work like they are supposed to, the security force should be fine."

"What about second and third squad?"

"Look for yourself. Everybody is good to go." Justin headed over to his pod, and stepped in.

Drake turned to his team before entering his own pod. "Well guys, been great working with you. Hope we all make it out of this."

"Same for us, sir," they all answered, except for Matt, who would never admit it. Drake's pod closed, and he could feel the freezing process begin. His last thoughts were wondering how the future would turn out, if the Eden ship would reach its new home, or if he would ever see Hannah again...

Earth 2319 A.D.

The pods were supposed to automatically start the unfreezing process today, if they didn't receive a signal from the Eden ship. They were, but they didn't. The computer overseeing the process had error messages flying all over the screen, until the diagnostics system finally finished.

The screen read as follows:

Waking base commander...error...

Waking senior staff...error...

Waking medical personnel...error...

Waking security personnel...error...

waking support staff...error...

waking civilians...error...

Resetting thaw date... error... suspending Cryogenic thaw process indefinitely...

Checking special pod 001... subject is alive... resetting thaw date to... error... 9,700 years... success...

Entering sleep mode...

The Eden ship never returned for the stranded survivors. For all intents and purposes, Humanity was finished.


	3. 1.1 - The Rookie

Earth 2019 O.S.C. (14,019 A.D.)

"Marie! Wake up, Marie!" Marie's eyes slowly opened, as her consciousness returned to her. Irritated, she reached over to hit the snooze button, only to realize it was her younger cousin's shouting that had woken her up.

"Ugh, Callie? Why did you wake me up this early?" The grey and green tentacle inkling said, as she finally started waking up.

"This early? Take another look at the clock. You already hit the snooze button seven times!" The black and magenta tentacle cousin responded.

Marie, who was clearly not a morning person like her cousin, glanced at the clock. Callie was right. It was almost time for their broadcast, and Marie had to force herself out of bed. Callie, who was already in her stage clothes, turned on the T.V. "Hey, did you hear about the new fossil they dug up at Piranha Pit yesterday?" Callie said to her slightly older cousin.

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Apparently, it was another skeleton of the elder race. And get this, it had a few artifacts with it. Fully intact!" This caught Marie's attention. Much of the technology used in Inkopolis came from the elder race. Cars, aircraft, construction machinery, even everyday television and radios came from fossils dug up around the city and OctoValley.

"Do they know what kind of artifact it is?" Asked Marie.

"They think it was some kinda video game system. Isn't that exciting?!" Squealed an excited Callie, and Marie just sighed. She should have known. Marie liked video games too, but there was a limit on how childish one should be. Then again, Marie was always jealous of her cousin's innocent and energetic demeanor.

"I don't see why you're so excited. We have plenty of games of our own, thanks to Ancho-V labs. It probably doesn't even work."

"But what about that system with the brick shaped controller they found? The guy in-charge actually let me try it. It was a lot tougher than anything Ancho-V made."

Their conversation was interrupted by the stage crew. For the past few days, the two cousins had been living at the studio because of the energy crisis and the upcoming splatfest. "Squid sisters! You're on in ten minutes."

"We'll be right out!" Marie answered, as she finished changing into her stage costume. Callie was about to head out, when she stopped and turned to Marie.

"By the way, Gramps sent us a message last night."

"Oh? Did something happen?"

"Not yet, but he thinks he knows where the zapfish is. Turns out, there was a hidden transport kettle in Octovalley, and he wants to check it out."

Marie was surprised at this. "I thought we had already checked out all the kettles in Octovalley. They were all clean, save for the occasional Octotrooper. at least on our side, anyway."

"Yeah, but this one had some sort of cloak on it. Gramps would have missed it, had he not tripped over it." Callie's expression had been unusually serious for a while, and Marie realized what that meant.

"Wait, does he expect us to go on another expedition? Splatfest is today, and we're going to be busy all night."

"No, he said he was going to recruit some new people."

Marie's expression turned dark. "Where is he going to get these new recruits? Most of the adults have already been drafted into the army. He's not going to use the kids, is he?" Marie asked, and Callie's expression turned sad.

"I think so. He mentioned recruiting people who did well in splatfest today."

"But this isn't a game! If we do end up fighting the Octarians, there won't be any S.P.A.W.N. pads to save them!" Marie noticed the expression on her cousin's face, and regretted raising her voice.

"I know, but what choice do we have? There is only so much you and I can do, and If we don't find the zapfish... It will be war for sure," Callie said. Marie silently cursed the government for ignoring their grandfathers warnings. Their conversation was cut short by another knock at the door. "Coming!" Callie shouted, returning to her normal energetic state. Another thing Marie was jealous of was Callie's ability to cheer up, no matter how dire things could be. Marie forced herself into her stage persona, and headed to the studio with her cousin.

...

Levin Akkoro, a 16 year old boy with blue tentacles and green eyes, was standing in front of his friend's apartment, waiting for a response to his knocks. Today would be his first time in the turf war games, and he was not about to miss it because his friend overslept. "Frost, you in there? Wake up!" He banged on the door again.

"I heard you the first time!" A loud voice responded. "I'll be out in a sec, so chill! Are you trying to wake the whole building?" A few seconds later, the door opened, and Frost came out. Like Levin, Frost's tentacles were also blue. Though, his shade was somewhat lighter, and his skin tone was rather pale. "Damn, Levin! I know your excited and all, but think about your surroundings."

"Sorry, sorry" Levin responded. "You know I've been waiting for this day for so long. My parents wouldn't let me participate in the turf war games until I turned sixteen!." The minimum age for participating in the war games was actually 14, but Levin's father was rather strict.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You got your gear ready?" Frost asked, as he grabbed his Tentatek splattershot.

"Yup!" Levin Responded, and held up his weapon. Frosts eyes widened.

"Is that a ranged blaster? Where did you get that?"

"It's my dad's, but he won't be needing it in the army." Levin responded. "Been practicing with it every day."

"I don't know, man. A blaster is a tough weapon to get the feel of. I think you should stick with the starter kit. Sheldon has a reason for giving those out to rookies."

"Don't sweat it. I got this, dude!" Levin said, which made Frost sigh and drop the issue. Levin turned to leave, practically dragging Frost with him.

"By the way, thanks for letting me on your team today," said Levin.

"It's cool. Sandy is sick today, which makes this the perfect opportunity. We need to get some practice in before splatfest starts, so let's get going." After exiting the tram, Frost led Levin to where the rest of the team was waiting. Two Inklings were sitting on one of the benches next to the transport lobby. One of them, a tall, dark skinned boy with green tentacles, noticed Frost, and waved at him.

"Hey, Frost. Is that the new guy you were talking about?"

"Yeah. Guys, this is Levin," Frost responded.

"Looking pretty fresh for a rookie! I dig the blaster."

"Thanks! I've been practicing all week, and I'm ready to get the splattin' on!" Said the excited Levin.

"That's what I like to hear! By the way, I'm Bass, and I'm on roller duty. The one with the E-liter is our sniper, Citra." Bass pointed to a short, fair skinned girl with light purple tentacles.

"Hi..." The other Inkling responded shyly. Levin gave her a small wave of his hand.

"So, you said Sandy was sick?" Bass asked Frost.

"That's what she messaged me. Bad sore throat, I hear."

"We should go see how she is doing once splatfest is over. For now, let's break this rookie in."

'It's finally time', Levin thought to himself. He followed the other Inklings into the transport lobby to be matched with another team. After a few minutes of waiting, the monitor displayed their opponents and the arena they were assigned to. Levin excitedly looked over to frost, who had a worried expression.

"Uh-oh," he said. "Look who we're up against. It's Shara."

"Who's that?" Levin asked.

"Shara Taiga? A turf war veteran, who has been dominating the war games since she first turned fourteen. Why are we being matched with her?" Frost responded.

"Wait, this might not be as bad as it looks," Bass said, looking at the monitor. "She isn't with her regular team. If our opponents aren't used to working with her, we may have a chance."

Frost turned to Levin. "Remember this is a team sport, so do what we tell you. Shara is a dangerous opponent, and we can't take her if we don't work together."

"Don't sweat it," he replied. "Just get her in range of my blaster, and I'll do the rest."

Frost didn't have time to respond, as the monitor announced that the transport pad was ready. All four Inklings shifted to their squid form, and were launched to Port Mackeral. As soon as they landed, they shifted back to their bipedal forms. The starting signal blew, and Frost began issuing commands to the team. "Citra, take the right flank. I'm going left. Bass, you go up the middle. Levin, Cover him."

"Roger." They responded, and moved out.

Levin tailed Bass until they reached the first row of containers, then Bass stopped him. "It's close quarters here. Leave the front to me. You watch my back." Levin nodded and followed Bass at a slower pace. Suddenly, Levin spotted an enemy Inkling approaching from the side alley with his splattershot ready.

"No you don't!" Levin shouted, firing a shot at the enemy. The Inkling, not expecting a rookie to be armed with a blaster, did not have time to evade, and the ink ball found its target. Levin had gotten his first splat. He watched with pride, as the enemy Inkling was forced into his squid form, leaving behind a pool of ink, and was pulled back to his base by the S.P.A.W.N. pad.

"Levin! Incoming!" He whipped around to see another enemy chasing Bass with a long range squelcher. Rather than follow Bass to cover, he charged at the enemy. "Wait!" Bass's warning came too late, as the enemy Inkling took out both Levin and Bass, using his range to his advantage. The S.P.A.W.N. system registered the Inklings as incapacitated, and forced them to return to their base for a quick de-splatting.

"Look, I know your new at this, but you need to listen to your teammates. Knowing when to back off is important too," Bass said.

"Okay, okay! Sorry!" Before Bass could say anything else, their automap's warning tone got their attention. Citra was signaling for help.

"Levin, go see what she needs. Bass, try and regain the territory you guys lost." Frost said over the communicator.

"Get going, and be sure to do what ever she tells you," Bass said as he moved out. Levin switched to his squid form, and launched himself to Citra's position.

"What happened?" He asked after reverting to bipedal form.

"It's Shara. I saw her over there, but she ducked behind one of the containers before I could finish charging."

"Okay, I got this." Levin turned the corner to check the alley Shara was last seen in. While he didn't see Shara, the Inkling with the squelcher was moving in his direction. "Payback time!" Levin said, as he moved in for the kill.

"Levin! Help!" Cried Citra.

"One sec!" Levin said, as his first shot grazed the Inklings arm. He fired another ball, this time dead on, and the Inkling was forced back to his S.P.A.W.N. pad. He turned to go help Citra, but all he saw was a pool of ink with a tan skinned and orange tentacled female standing next to it, already covering the area in her own colors. Levin fired a shot at Shara, who dodged it. Shara looked him over.

"Did you not learn your lesson the first time?" She asked. Levin didn't respond, and fired another shot. Shara dodged with ease, and fired 3 well aimed shots at Levin, all of which found their mark. Once again, Levin was forced back to his base.

"What are you doing?" Frost shouted over the communicator. "We still have the most territory covered. Keep your cool, and we can win this!"

"If you guys have it under control, there's no reason why I can't go after Shara!" Levin yelled back.

"Dammit, Levin!" Levin ignored him, and jumped to Shara's last known location. As soon as he landed, he heard a voice behind him.

"You should be more careful where you jump to. Unless you have a special set of equipment, the automap will give away your location." Shara pointed her splattershot pro at Levin's head. "You're not a bad shot for a rookie, but you have a lot to learn about turf war." She fired a short burst, and sent Levin back to his pad. After being de-splatted again, Levin checked the automap. His team still had control of the center area, but Shara was no longer being displayed.

"I'll get her!" he yelled. Shara's beacon resurfaced on the automap. "Found you!" He said. Rather than making the same mistake and jumping to her location, he switched to squid form and swam in the ink his team had already laid. Unfortunately for him, Shara had expected this. She was hiding in her ink, and waiting for him. Levin reverted back to Bipedal form, Blaster at the ready.

"Always check your surroundings before rushing in." Shara was standing behind him with her weapon pointed at his head, once again. Just before she pulled the trigger, their automaps alerted them that time had run out, and the game was over.

The S.P.A.W.N. system activated, and all Inklings in the field were pulled to their respective pads. Levin checked the automap to see the results. His team had won. Excited with his first victory, he turned to his team. Frost looked at him with an annoyed expression, Bass was shaking his head, and Citra averted her eyes. The transport system came to life, and the Inklings were launched back the the lobby.

"I don't see what the problem is. We won, didn't we?" Said Levin.

"Yes, but barely. The only reason we did is because the rest of Shara's team was almost as green as you." Frost tried to get Levin to understand, but his efforts were fruitless.

"Oh yeah? Well I got more splats than Bass did!" Levin shouted back.

"That doesn't matter! The only thing that matters in this game, is how much turf you cover. And frankly, you cost us more than you gained!" Bass replied, angry at being challenged.

"Look, Levin," Frost started, having calmed down some. "I think you should go group up with some other rookies. You're more likely to be paired against a team closer to your skill level."

Levin's eyes widened. "Are you kicking me off the team?"

This time Citra answered. "I-it's nothing personal. You just need to practice and learn to work as a team."

Before Levin could answer, they turned and headed towards the tram station. "We'll see you at splatfest. Maybe we'll pair up again if you get some practice in." After saying this, they left Levin alone in the main plaza. Irritated, he headed over to the vending machines to buy a drink.

Shara was standing outside the transport lobby, and had watched the entire exchange. While his friends were a bit harsh, they were correct. She considered approaching him and offering a few pointers, but with the mood he was in, he would likely ignore her. She watched as he started complaining to himself.

"Way to ruin my first victory, guys," Levin said, while guzzling his drink. "Maybe some new gear would fix things, but..." He checked his pockets. "I barely have enough to get home." Levin was currently wearing a white headband, a Rockenburg white shirt, and a pair of blue sea slugs.

"Sounds like you could use a job." The sudden voice startled Levin, and he looked around to pinpoint it. "Down here," the voice said.

Levin looked down, and saw an elderly Inkling looking at him from under a manhole cover. "Who are you, and what are you doing down there?"

"Not so loud, Bucko," the old Inkling said. "I need a few good fighters. Come closer, and I'll give you the details."

Shara was listening to the old Inkling in disbelief. "What is he thinking? That kid is just a rookie. He can't handle something dangerous like that!" Shara started moving towards the manhole cover. "I'd better stop him before he gets in over his head." Before she could call out to him, Levin had already changed to his squid form, and hopped into the pipe. "That fool! I need to go after him and talk sense into both of them."

She approached the manhole cover to follow the Inklings, but stopped. Something caught her eye. She looked up and saw, what looked like a shooting star, in the sky. 'Wait, It's the middle of the day. I shouldn't be able to see something like that.' She pondered for a minute at what she was really looking at, but then she remembered what she came here to do. She decided that the object in the sky was her mind playing tricks on her, and turned her attention back to the pipe the two Inklings had departed in.

Shara jumped down into the pipe, and saw the ink trail the two Inklings left. "OctoValley, huh?" She changed her colors to match Levin's, and transformed, following the ink trail he had left. The object in the sky had disappeared on the horizon. But unknown to the citizens of Inkopolis, that object had just crashed near the neutral zone of OctoValley, and was sending out a signal of unknown origin.


	4. 1.2 - The Energy Crisis

A 15 year old boy with green tentacles, named Kirk, stood in the plaza, his eyes glued to the large monitor that would soon announce the start of splatfest. After a few minutes of waiting in anticipation, a familiar chime sounded, the monitor switched on, and the Squid Sisters appeared and started with their usual introduction of Inkopolis news. 'Yes! Finally!' He thought to himself. He looked around, and saw most of the other Inklings had shifted their attention to the screen. He noticed a girl standing next to him with a serious expression on her face. He looked at her curiously for a moment, as her pink tentacles were in an unusual twin-tail style that went up and out, but he soon switched his attention back the the monitor.

"The moment you have all been waiting for is finally here!" Callie said, excitedly.

"But first we have a few announcements to make," Marie said in a more serious tone than her usual sarcastic attitude. Most of the Inklings didn't notice, but Kirk did.

"I wonder if something's up," he said to himself. The girl standing next to him glanced over as he continued to watch the screen.

"Due to the energy crisis, this may be the last splatfest we can host for a while," Marie continued. "The turf war games may also be suspended until the zapfish is found." Kirk stared in disbelief. Looking around, he saw most of the other Inklings had similar expressions.

"Which is why we have to make this splatfest a great one!" Callie said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. "As most of you know, we're doing something a little different this time. Marie and I, will pair with two lucky Inklings to kick off this splatfest with a bang!"

Kirk's excitement had returned. He had spent many days trying to earn a spot as one of those who would be paired with the Squid Sisters. He was a major fan of them, and adored both their singing, and the girls themselves. He knew his devotion was about to pay off today.

"It's time to announced the two winners of the pairing contest!" Callie said with a smile on her face.

"Wait for it!" Marie chimed in, back in her usual stage persona.

"Congratulations to Kirk Kelpie and Neptune Sireness!" Callie shouted. "Please be at the transport lobby in half an hour. To the rest of you, enjoy our show, and better luck next time!" The squid sisters signed off with their usual 'Stay Fresh' routine.

Kirk couldn't contain his excitement. "Yes!" He said to himself. "I actually did it!" The girl standing next to him, looked over.

"I guess you must be Kirk." Startled, Kirk turned to look at her. "I'm Neptune, the other contest winner."

"That's me!" He said excitedly, as he shook her hand. "We're partners now, so let's do our best for the Squid Sisters!"

"That too, I suppose." Kirk looked at her with a puzzled expression, then raised his weapon to show her.

"By the way, what class are you? I use the mini splatling."

"Not a bad choice. I use the .52 Gal." She un-slung her weapon for Kirk to see. Something that was usually forbidden in the plaza. "With you and Callie covering turf, and me on support with Marie, I think we have a pretty good chance at winning this." Neptune put her weapon back in place, and turned away. "Provided you can keep up, that is."

"Of course I can!" Kirk retorted. "I've been practicing like crazy".

"So you have." She looked at his headgear. "Nice helmet, by the way. Those aren't easy to find, or cheap." She was referring to his stealth goggle headset that went with his baseball jersey and blue moto boots. Neptune had on studio headphones, a retro sweat and Acerola rain boots.

"Thanks. It took me forever to get it, and I had to order it from Spy-"

"Quiet!" Neptune snapped. "You know his services aren't exactly legal. Keep that bit to yourself!"

"Right, sorry," Kirk responded.

Neptune turned towards the transport lobby. "Shall we get going, partner? I don't want to miss my big debut."

...

Four Octolings were staring at the large capsule that had buried itself in the dirt, only an hour earlier. A light on the capsule was blinking, and a strange noise could be heard from what looked like a communications antenna. Otome watched as her leader, Kelly, pressed her face against a transparent section of the pod, trying to see what was inside.

"See anything?" One of the other Octolings asked with a curious expression.

"Not a thing, Kira. Otome, hand me your light." Otome handed Kelly her flashlight, and peered into the pod. Kelly moved the light up and down, but from what they could see, the pod was empty, say for a small box strapped to a padded chair. "I can't make heads or tails of this." Kelly turned off the light and backed away from the pod.

The other Octoling, who had been silent, spoke up. "Did the Octocopter scouts report this, ma'am?"

"No, Okha, they didn't say anything about any strange objects." Kelly touched the pod again. "It's warm. This couldn't have been here for very long."

Remembering that they were in Inkling territory, Otome spoke up. "I think we should move on, Ma'am."

"Agreed. I don't think this concerns us." Kelly said, turning away from the pod. "Officially, we aren't supposed to be here. If you see any Inklings that aren't red, You get back to Octarian territory as fast as you can."

Otome was puzzled at this. "I thought the Inklings couldn't switch to red, or use Octarian purple ink."

"They can't. I'm guessing they just dyed their tentacles red. Now move out!" The group left the pod behind, and proceeded to where they were supposed to meet the Inkling team.

...

As he regained consciousness, the first thing on Drake Von Kaufmann's mind, was how much his head hurt. Opening his eyes only made it worse, but he felt that shutting them again would be a bad idea. He could make out two figures behind the glass cover of his pod, as he remembered where he was.

"Look, he's alive!" One of the figures shouted.

"Can't this thing go any faster!" Said the other. "He should have finished thawing by now!"

Regaining control of his limbs, Drake turned and hit the emergency release switch on his pod. The pod opened, and Drake sat up. "Unless one of you guys has a bottle of headache medicine, you mind keeping it down?" Drake's eyes finally cleared up, and he focused on the figures in front of him. His entire squad were standing in front of his pod.

Takeshi was the first to speak up. "Dude, we thought you were dead!"

Reggie was next. "Halfway into the thawing process, your vitals just flat lined," Reggie said with a hint of relief. "You're lucky that it was just the monitor and not the pod that malfunctioned."

"Indeed," said Brandon. "Some of the others weren't so lucky. We were worried you would end up like them."

"What?" Drake looked around the room, and saw that some of the pods had gone dark. A few members from second squad were staring at powered down pods with dark expressions. Drake now understood what Brandon had meant. "How many didn't make it?" Drake asked.

"About twenty confirmed so far," said Justin. "And we think there may be more."

"How many of the security team made it?"

"With you up, first squad is alive and accounted for," Brandon said with a sad face. "I don't know how many of the others made it yet. The only others I know who are alive, are Lehrer and Allen from second, and Niwa from third."

Drake felt sick to his stomach. "Do they know what caused this?"

Reggie answered for Brandon. "We were asleep for way longer than we were meant to. Some of the pods just gave out."

Again, Drake's stomach turned. "How long?"

"We're not sure. Your dad is trying to figure that out, while Commander Mclarrin does a head count," Brandon responded. Drake looked over and was relieved to see his father working at the terminal overseeing the cryogenic pods. Mclarrin noticed his gaze, and seeing that he was awake, marked something on her data pad. Drake started to head over, when Matt stopped him.

"Later. We're needed at medical right now."

"What for?" Drake asked.

"Checkups. Make sure nothing is wrong with our bodies. Doctor Harkov is expecting us," Matt responded. Drake turned and followed him out of the Cryogen lab.

"Well, at least they should have plenty of headache medicine. I could use some too." Brandon rolled his eyes at Takeshi, while they followed Drake and Matt.

"Sure you do. You probably just want to bother Nurse Rotama, don't you?"

Takeshi shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

...

Kirk and Neptune, were waiting in the Transport lobby. It was several minutes past the time when the special opening act for splatfest was supposed to start. Kirk had started to become worried that they had been stood up, until a voice behind him made him jump.

"Sorry we're late." Callie was standing behind Kirk, and she extended her hand to him. "You must be Kirk," she said as he shook her hand, his face red as could be.

"Y-yeah, n-nice to m-meet you."

"No need to be shy," Callie said. "We're all equals on the battlefield. Let's have a fun match for all the people watching!" Kirk had forgotten that the game would be televised, and almost everybody in Inkopolis would be watching. This only made him more nervous. He looked over, and saw that Marie and Neptune had finished greeting each other. Kirk looked at Callie again, and noticed she had pinned her tentacles up in a style similar to Marie's.

Callie noticed Kirk looking at them. "I thought they would be less likely to get in the way like this. You like it?"

"Y-yes, they really look..." Before he could finish, Neptune interrupted them.

"Hey, the game is about to start." The monitors were displaying both the opposing team and the arena they were assigned to. The transport pad indicated that it was ready.

Callie turned to Marie. "No puns for the kids?"

Marie smirked. "Why Callie, are you looking for PUNishment?"

The four inklings changed to their squid forms, and the transport pad sent them to Camp Triggerfish. Kirk was the last one to land on their S.P.A.W.N. pad, but because he was still nervous, he had forgotten to wait until after landing to revert to bipedal form. He came down hard and his legs gave out from under him, causing him to land on his ink tank. Luckily for him, only Neptune saw this, and she reached over to help him up.

"Calm down! You won't be of use to anybody like this."

Cursing himself for making such a rookie mistake, Kirk stood up, made sure his tank wasn't damaged, and readied his weapon. "Sorry, I think I'm okay now."

Callie turned to Kirk. "That splatling looks pretty sweet. If you think you're up for it, why don't you pair up with me?" Kirk could hardly contain his excitement.

"Of course I will!"

"Guess Neptune is with me," Marie stated. "We'll take the main path, so you two jump to their side and flank them. It will be easier for us to cover you, if you can keep them from taking the center platform"

"Sounds like a plan," Neptune said as she readied her gal.

The starting signal sounded and the Inklings rushed in, covering turf as they went. Kirk followed Callie to the catwalk, where they would jump to the far platform. Callie made the jump effortlessly, but Kirk hesitated for a second. While the S.P.A.W.N. system would immediately recall them if they fell, landing in deep water was not a pleasant experience, since even in their squid forms, Inklings can't swim in water. Not wanting to let Callie down, Kirk made the jump, and took position behind her. On the side they had jumped from, Kirk saw Marie taking pot shots at the enemy team with her replica army charger, while Neptune was covering her blind spots. Kirk charged his splatling, and made a trail on the wall.

"Callie, let's go over the wall. We can get around them this way."

"Nice thinking, Kirk." The two Inklings changed form and swam up the wall. Reverting to bipedal form, they jumped down and began inking territory.

Suddenly, two Enemy Inklings jumped out from around the corner, and pointed their weapons at Callie. Kirk immediately charged his mini splatling, and sprayed the nearest one with Ink. After letting out a cry, he was forced to his squid form, and recalled to his pad. The other Inkling turned his weapon on him. Kirk was out ranged, but Callie was faster. She circled around the other Inkling and slammed her roller down in front of her, covering the enemy with ink. Callie flashed him a thumbs up, but before he could respond, a Kraken form came barreling down on them from over the wall.

"Look out!" Kirk shouted, as Callie barely jumped out of the way. While they had avoided the Kraken form, the ink trail it left behind had separated them. The Kraken form reverted back to bipedal, and she turned her blaster on Kirk. He tried to charge the splatling, but he wasn't fast enough. The ink ball hit him square in the chest, and he fell over.

'Something is wrong,' Callie thought. The S.P.A.W.N. system should have recalled him by now, but he just lay there, paralyzed. The other Inkling was just as stunned as Callie, and just stood in place. Suddenly, a suction bomb went off behind Callie, and she was thrown face first into the ground. Her backside was covered with enemy ink, and like Kirk, was completely paralyzed.

"Ugh... what?" This shouldn't be happening. The S.P.A.W.N. system had too many fail safes. She had experienced this feeling once when she had been shot in Octovalley, and knew if she took in anymore foreign ink, her life would be in danger.

The emergency beacon of her automap lit up, and a voice was heard over the communicator. "All Players disengage immediately! Pink team's S.P.A.W.N. pad has malfunctioned. This turf war is over!" The last thing Callie saw, was the other two Inklings being pulled to their pad, and Marie running to her side.

When Callie awoke, the first thing she saw, was her older cousin standing by her side. "Where am I?" She asked in a pained voice.

"The hospital," Marie replied. "We had to bring you and Kirk here for emergency de-splatting." Callie sat up and looked around, noticing that her tentacles had fallen back into their usual style.

"Where are Kirk and Neptune?"

"Kirk is still being de-splatted, but he's not in danger anymore. As for Neptune, she never got hit." Callie pulled herself out of the hospital bed, and faced her cousin.

"So what the heck happened? Why weren't we sent back to our pads when we got splatted?"

Marie's face darkened. "About that. I don't think we are going to have any more turf wars for a while, and I think it's safe to say, splatfest is canceled." Callie simply stared, while Marie continued. "It wasn't a mechanical problem with our pad. The thing just ran out of juice and shut down." Callie now understood what was going on.

"The zapfish..."

"Right, the zapfish. Until it gets found, we simply can't take anymore chances of this happening again."

Callie looked down and thought for a moment. "But with most of the adults drafted into the army, the war games are all the kids have to look forward to."

"Callie, you could have died! Kirk could have died!" Callie went silent, as she knew her cousin was right. "Ever since the S.P.A.W.N. pads were created, we haven't lost one Inkling. Sure there were injuries here and there, but no deaths. How do you think I would feel if you were the first one to die in a war game in over twenty years!"

"You're right. I'm sorry," said Callie, who was on the verge of tears.

"It's okay. We'll find another way to keep the kids occupied. Splatfest may be canceled, but maybe we can put on a concert for them. That shouldn't take up too much power if we forgo the light show."

Just then, Callie's squid phone vibrated. She took it out and checked her messages. "It's from gramps," she said, still reading the message. "looks like he found some new..."

"STOP!" Yelled Marie, as she pointed to the door. Kirk was standing a few feet away, while being supported by Neptune.

"Is it true?" He said while taking off his helmet. "Are splatfest and the turf wars really over?"

"Easy, Kirk. You haven't fully Recovered yet," said Neptune, trying to keep her balance.

Marie looked at Callie, then answered. "I'm afraid so, but don't worry. When the zapfish is found, the turf wars will resume. I'm sure we can also have another splatfest to celebrate." Marie forced a smile. "We'll pair up again and have a proper game when that happens." Kirk and Neptune were both taken aback. Marie had always had an aura of being both cool and sarcastic while on screen. They didn't expect this show of kindness. Kirk, now able to stand on his own, turned to leave.

"Next time, we won't let you down."

"Where are you going?" Callie asked.

"To practice." Kirk and Neptune exited the hospital, and headed for ammo knights.

"Hey, Neptune, you've been at this longer that I have. You mind giving me some pointers?"

Neptune thought for a moment. "Well, I was going to practice at Sheldon's target range, but I wouldn't mind doing some drills with you."

"Great! Looking forward to it, teach!" Kirk said, as the pair entered the weapon shop.


	5. 1.3 - The Battle of OctoValley Part 1

Shara was listening to the old Inkling explain what was going on, while Levin changed into a modified version of the army uniform. To summarize, his name was Cuttlefish, and he was recruiting Levin into his Squidbeak Squadron. These were two names Shara recognized from the history books. According to Cuttlefish, the Octarians were behind the zapfish theft, and Levin would fill in for Agents 1 and 2, as Agent 3.

"But why me?" Levin asked as he set his head gear into position. "Isn't this a job for the army?"

"I tried to convince the authorities of the threat, but they wouldn't listen to me." The old man lowered his head. "I don't blame them for not wanting to start a war, but we can't just sit here and do nothing while we lose power." Cuttlefish turned back to Levin, while leaning on his cane.

"Which is where you come in. Until Agent 1 and 2 return, I need you to locate as many zapfish as you can. If we operate as a small group, we might be able to save Inkopolis without provoking another great turf war."

Levin strengthened up, and responded. "I'll do it! But to be honest, I don't have much experience. Is that really okay?"

"I like that look in your eye." Cuttlefish said, analyzing Levin. "You remind me of my grand squids." Cuttlefish then turned towards the pipe Shara was hiding in. "The same goes for the pretty lass eavesdropping on us." Levin whipped around and raised his blaster.

"Pretty good, old man," Shara said too herself, as the short 17 year old girl climbed out of the pipe. Levin's eyes widened.

"You!" He said while keeping his blaster at the ready. "You're that girl from the games!"

"And you're the fool who is about to get himself killed!" She snapped in response. "Just go back to playing turf wars. This isn't a game, kid!" Shara turned to Cuttlefish, her anger reaching the boiling point. "And you! If you really are the same Cuttlefish from the great turf war, you should know better than to recruit kids for something like this! He has no idea what the Octarians are like!"

"Oh? And I suppose you're an expert on the subject?" Levin snapped back. Before Shara could respond, Cuttlefish slammed his cane down, startling both the young inklings.

"Pipe down!" Cuttlefish said in a raised but calm tone. "I'm well aware of the dangers and how unethical it is to send a young inkling into battle." Cuttlefish's expression became pained. "But we are running out of both time and options. There was an incident in Inkopolis only minutes ago." Cuttlefish explained to the two Inklings of the S.P.A.W.N. Pad malfunction.

Levin turned to Shara. "You see? This is why I have to do this! Stay behind if you want, but I'm going!"

"Idiot..." She responded, and turned to Cuttlefish. "If he's going, than I am too. Someone has to keep him from doing something even more stupid."

"I thought you might say that." Cuttlefish said, who already had another uniform ready. "You can use my shack to change." As Shara went to change, Cuttlefish handed Levin the army version of the splattershot. "Here, you might need this."

"No thanks." Levin said, as he held up his blaster. "I'll trust in what my father gave me." Shara returned from Cuttlefish's shack, Trading her retro specs, camo zip hoodie and icy down boots for the uniform he had given her. "Oh? Not too shabby!" Levin said, jokingly.

"Shut up!" Shara responded. "Let's just get this over with."

Cuttlefish looked at the two, who were standing at attention. "From now on, you two are Agents 3 and 4 of Squidbeak. I expect you to work together and follow my directions. Is that understood?"

Shara nodded, and Levin responded with "You got it".

"Good. The first transport kettle I want you to check out is over there." Cuttlefish pointed to the once cloaked Octarian kettle. The two inklings walked over, and peered inside. "Wait! Before you go, take these with you." Cuttlefish handed the Inklings too small robots.

"What are these?" Levin asked, as he took one.

"Octarians call it a Squee-G. It's a small robot that can de-splat you. Use it if you take on too much enemy ink."

"Oh, so it's like a portable medical kit?" Asked Shara, taking hers.

"More or less. Be careful, though," said Cuttlefish with a serious tone. "It only has enough charges for two or three uses." The Inklings turned their attention back to the transport kettle. "Just jump in with your squid form, and the Kettle will do the rest. Good luck."

Levin and Shara changed forms, and jumped in. The kettle came to life, and like a large pressure cannon, shot the two Inklings down the Octarian tunnel. After a few minutes, both Inklings emerged on the other end in a daze. "Ugh, where are we?" Levin said, suppressing the urge to vomit. Shara looked around, and saw that they were in the ruins of an unfamiliar city.

"I don't know," she responded. Suddenly, Cuttlefish's voice could be heard from their headsets.

"You're in what's left of the city of Ceph. It was built around the remains of an elder race settlement. It looks like you're on the Inkling side." Cuttlefish paused for a moment, then continued. "Before the war, this city was built as an experiment to see if the Inklings and Octarians could live together and share the elder race artifacts we dug up. It worked for a while, but..." his voice trailed off.

Shara noticed something odd about the ruins. Some of the rubble seamed to hover above the ground as if suspended by cables. "What are those objects that look like they are flying?" She asked.

"It's because of the Octarian wonder weapons," he responded. "They had some strange effects on the environment. Those probably aren't the only anomalies you will see down there."

"I hate to interrupt the history lesson," Levin butted in. "But we could be splatting Octarians right now."

Shara rolled her eyes, but he was right. Cuttlefish chimed in on the communicator to affirm this. "Right you are, Bucko. Now go find us a zapfish!"

"Roger!" The two Inklings responded, and moved out.

...

Drake was in the mess hall with the other 69 survivors of the cryosleep. "Thirty people lost," Brandon said, standing next to him. Mclarrin had just finished reading the list of people who's pods had malfunctioned. In all, they had lost 9 security officers, 1 from medical, 2 of the senior staff, 8 of the support staff, and 10 civilians.

"Nine guards, though. That's half of what remained of the security force," said Reggie. "I guess we should be grateful it wasn't worse, and that our squad is fully intact."

"I'm just glad we didn't lose anyone else from medical," said Justin, as he and Matt supported Takeshi, who had passed out. "Nurse Rotama and I, will be working a lot harder as it is, and we would be in real trouble if we had lost doctor Harkov."

"Alright, settle down." Manfred stood up and walked over to Mclarrin, placing an old projector at the front of the room. "I'm sure your all wondering how long we have been asleep. I spent some time mining data from the cryogen controller console, and I put together this graph." Manfred switched on the projector, and every body went silent. At one side of the graph, it showed the starting point of the cryo sleep, 2019 A.D. The next place on the graph, was the original point at which they were supposed to be thawed, 2319 A.D.

"I wonder why we didn't thaw when we were supposed to?" Asked a now conscious and confused Takeshi.

"I don't know, but I'll bet it has something to do with all those errors listed under the 2319 mark," said a concerned Reggie.

"Will you shut up? I'm trying to listen!" Said an annoyed Matt.

The next point on the graph was marked 12,019 A.D. 10,000 years from their starting point. Next to it, a note said 'Judd's release'.

"I hope the poor guy didn't starve to death," said Drake, thinking he would never see the cat again. The final point on the graph was marked 14,019 A.D. The time when the survivors were finally thawed. It didn't take long for Drake and the others to connect the dots.

"TWELVE THOUSAND YEARS!?"

"Officer Von Kaufmann!" Mclarrin roared. "Control yourself!"

"I'm afraid so," Manfred said in an effort to calm the survivors down. "But please remain calm. No matter what state the world is in, panicking is not the answer."

"But what about the Eden ship?" One of the civilians asked. "Shouldn't they have come back for us by now? Manfred thought for a moment. At this point, he had little hope that the colonists had found a new planet to call their own, or survived the trip. He decided that reassuring them would be better than the most likely scenario.

"It could have taken them a very long time to find a new home," he said. "And the planet they settled on might not have had the resources to provide them with the means to produce more fuel for the trip home. We shouldn't write them off yet." The civilians and base personnel seemed to accept this, and they calmed down some. Mclarrin signaled for Manfred to take his seat, as she began to speak.

"We'll now have the department heads report on the status of the base' facilities."

The senior staff took turns reporting on the condition of the Eden base. The command center was functional, but many computer parts needed to be replaced. The monitor system was shot, so they had no idea what the outside world looked like. The living quarters needed an overhaul, but were serviceable. The cryogen bay was now out of the picture. The motor pool was a mess, and only a few vehicles could be repaired, which would take time. Half the solar panels were burnt out, and one of the water wheels had collapsed, so they would have to be careful with power usage. The factory was inoperable. Thankfully, the agridome and treatment plant were in good shape, so food and water would not be an issue.

Drake, the current head of security, stood up when it became his turn to speak. "The security barracks need a bit of work, but we can manage. As for the armory, a few of the rifles need new parts, but most of the weapons are functional. I didn't test the explosives."

All in all, their situation was bad. But considering the facility was now 12,000 years old, the survivors considered themselves lucky. The meeting ended, and the 70 survivors all headed out to their respective stations. Drake met his team outside, and Brandon spoke up. "This isn't good guys. Did you see how everybody looked? Our morale is terrible."

"Can you blame them?" Said Reggie. "Drake, no offense to your dad, but I know BS when I hear it."

"It's fine," said Drake, while pondering. "What we need, is something to give them hope. Things aren't going to get much better with us cooped up down here."

"Yeah, but how?" Takeshi asked, still looking confused. "We're just the security force, remember?

"I have an idea. Meet me in the command center in a few hours," Drake said as he headed to the armory.

...

Levin and Shara, had been wondering in Ceph for almost an hour, but there was still no sign of the Octarians, or the zapfish. "Are we there yet?" Asked a bored Levin.

"Levin, if you're so bored, why don't you just go home?" Shara, regretting her decision to accompany Levin, was at her wits end. "Honestly, it's your fault we're in this mess, so why don't-" Shara suddenly stopped, and Levin bumped into her.

"Hey! why did you st-"

"Get down!" Shara grabbed Levin, and forced him to take cover behind some crates. "Look," she said, pointing. "Octotroopers. Looks like we found a baby zapfish too."

Levin peeked over his cover to look at the Octarians. Four figures were patrolling the area, while riding what looked like hovering gun turrets. The Octarians themselves, looked like severed tentacles with fish eyes and over sized mouths. Definitely not what Levin was expecting. "That's the Octarians? They don't look so tough."

"They're just Octarian regulars. We're lucky they don't have any Octolings with them, otherwise we would be in real trouble. But that doesn't mean you can take them lightly."

"What ever you say. Hey, what about those?" Two more figures came down from above, and took position above the Octotroopers.

"Octocopters," Shara hissed. "If they spot us, they will alert the others and call for reinforcements."

"So we take them down quick," said Levin, as he readied his blaster.

"No! We need to do this quietly, otherwise the Octo... LEVIN!"

Agent 3 had already popped up from behind cover and took a shot at the nearest Octocopter. The ink ball hit the Octarian dead center, and it fell to the ground, dead. He took aim at the second Octocopter, but it was too late. "Intruders!" It shouted, and the four Octotroopers turned their weapons on the Inkling's position. Levin ducked, and he saw Shara fire a burst at the other Octocopter, taking it down. Shara quickly went back into cover, as the Octotroopers had started to fire on them.

"Nice going!" She snapped.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Levin yelled back.

"Just go left. I'll go right!" The Inklings quickly made an ink trail to the lower platform, and followed it in their squid forms. Shara Reverted to her bipedal form, and hurled a splat bomb at the two troopers nearest her. The bomb landed between them, and exploded. One of the Octotroopers was killed, while the other was knocked of his assault platform. Shara ducked down just in time, as the third Octotrooper turned his weapon on her, and fired.

Levin, who had just taken out the Octotrooper on his side, turned his blaster on the Octarian that had Shara pinned. "Shara!" He yelled, and fired a shot. The ink ball had missed its target, and the Octotrooper turned his weapon on him. This allowed Shara to raise from cover, and splat the final Octarian, who was dead once he fell in the pool of ink. Levin went over to grab the zapfish, while Shara walked over to the Octarian she injured with the splat bomb. It looked at her with fear, as she raised her weapon to finish it off.

"Wait!" Yelled Levin, rushing over with the zapfish. "It can't fight anymore! You don't need to kill him!"

"Oh, so now you want to show mercy?" She said, and lowered her weapon. "Fine, get out of here." Confused but thankful, the Octotrooper got up, and wobbled off.

Levin held up the zapfish and pointed to a nearby transport kettle. "Shall we go?" With out answering, Shara walked to the kettle. Levin followed her, and both Inklings were returned to OctoValley.

Cuttlefish was waiting for them, and took the zapfish from Levin. "Nice work," he said. "While you were out, I found two more transport kettles. I'll mark their positions on your map." Cuttlefish marked the kettles location on the automaps, then took the zapfish to his shack.

Levin turned to Shara, and grinned. "Not bad for our first mission, huh?"

Shara was looking down. Her anger had finally snapped, and she slowly approached him. She stopped after a few steps, and raised her face to match his. Her hand curled into a fist, and she hit him square in the face. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" She screamed. "ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US KILLED?"

"Wha? I thought... but I didn't-"

"What you did was give us away to the enemy! You have no idea how lucky you are. If there had been anymore of them, or if they had some elites with them, we would have been finished!"

"Ahem." Cuttlefish cleared his throat. "Am I interrupting something?"

"I can't work with him!" Shara yelled. "Like I told you, he doesn't get how dangerous this is. He won't listen to what I say, and he just..." Shara calmed down a little, and turned to Levin. "I'll find the zapfish myself. You go home. I mean it!" Shara stormed over to one of the transport kettles, and hopped in.

"Forget that!" Levin snarled. "I'll show her what I can do!" He rushed over to the other kettle and prepared to transform.

"Wait!" Yelled cuttlefish. "You need to work together! Neither of you can do this alone!" Levin ignored him, and hopped into the kettle. "Oh dear. I'd better get Agents 1 and 2 down here."

When Levin exited the kettle, the first thing he noticed was that he was back in Inkopolis. Kelp Dome to be precise. "When did they find the time to build a tunnel here?" He said to himself, as he looked around. Suddenly, he heard voices, and he ducked down to hide himself.

"This doesn't feel right," one of the approaching voices said. "I mean, splatting them on the battlefield is one thing, but poisoning their food supply? That's just a little too low."

"Well, I was told a lot of this gets shipped off to the army," said another voice. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. The Inklings are the enemy, after all. They would do it to us with out a second thought."

Levin was watching from the shadows. These weren't like the Octotroopers he fought at Ceph. They looked similar to Inkling girls, only they had four red tentacles on their head, instead of two large and four small. He wondered if these were the Octolings Shara had mentioned. He counted a total of four. 'Do I really have to splat them?' He wondered. The Octolings were talking about poisoning their food supply, so he had to do something. An idea formed in his head, and he followed one of the Octolings, who had separated from the group. When he got close enough, he raised his weapon and brought it down on her head.

"Oof," She muttered, and landed face down on the ground. Levin checked her unconscious form and saw that she was still breathing.

"Good," he said. "If I do this to the rest of them, I won't have to kill anybody. They seem just like us, and this one is kinda cute." He wanted to peek under the Octoling's goggles, but then a voice brought him back to his senses.

"Hey, you almost done over there? We need to get this done before we are detected."

Levin immediately hid, and saw two of the Octolings coming in his direction. He moved to the corner, and waited for the nearest one to pass him. Just like with the first, he sneaked up behind her, and raised his weapon over his head. Suddenly, the Octoling turned in his direction.

"Ah Ink-!" She cried as he brought his blaster down on her head. She quickly fell unconscious. Unfortunately, the other Octoling heard this, and readied her Octoshot.

"Crap!" He said, as he took cover from the Octolings ink spray. Levin stood up and fired an ink ball at the Octoling. The Octoling dodged, and transformed, following the ink trail she had made. "Where did she go?" He said, as his heart pounded. A splat bomb was thrown, and Levin barely had time to dodge it. He rolled behind a planter and took aim with his blaster, only to find that the Octoling had transformed again. He scanned the area, trying to figure out where she would emerge from.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure transform from the purple ink trail. He quickly turned and fired a shot at the figure out of reflex. This time, the ink ball hit the Octoling square in the head, and she fell on her back. He had only meant to incapacitate her, but the snap shot he made ended up as a kill shot. Levin felt sick as he looked at her now lifeless body, and he wished he had taken the splattershot instead of using the powerful blaster.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered. He then remembered that there were four Octolings, and one was still missing. He slowly scanned the dome, trying to figure out where the last Octoling was, and if he could catch her by surprise.

Suddenly, He felt an impact on his back, followed by two more. He helplessly fell forward. Levin had been splatted, and could only lay there, paralyzed. A figure approached him, and he assumed it was the fourth Octoling. The figure then grabbed him, and flipped him over on his back. All he could do was stare, as the Octoling crouched down, her face close to his. This one had darker tentacles than the others, and wore two kelp stocks between them. She bared her fangs at him.

"I think we need to have a talk."


	6. 1.4 – The Battle of OctoValley part 2

Shara was standing next to the transport kettle, staring in disbelief. Like Levin, she had ended up in Inkopolis. This time, she was on the outskirts of an old skate park. Wondering how the Octarians had made it so far into Inkling territory, she didn't notice the warning indicator on her automap light up, until a shadow approached her at high speed.

"What the- Inkstrike!" She barely had time to evade, as a missile loaded with ink, collided with the ground she had been standing on only a second ago. Unfortunately, she didn't make it unscathed, and she could feel her left arm go numb. Her automap lit up again, and she saw another missile launch from the far side of the park. Shara quickly made an ink trail, changed forms to dodge the second missile, and took cover behind a wall. She took out her Squee-G and let it go to work, removing the purple ink from her body.

'I wonder how Levin is doing,' Shara thought to herself, regretting blowing up on him like that. 'I just hope he took my advice for once.' The Squee-G had finished it's job, and shut down. She peered around the corner to look for where the Inkstrikes came from. On the far side of the park, she saw an Octarian airship hovering in place. "That must be it," Shara said, planning her route. "I'll have to move quick."

She jumped out of her hiding spot, and the warning indicator immediately lit up again. She dodged the missile, and made an Ink trail to the nearest hiding spot, switching to and from her squid form as she went. It only took her several minutes to get in range of the airship, but for Shara, it seemed like an eternity. She had lost count of how many missile strikes she dodged, as well as the amount of times she weaved in and out of cover. Finally, she was close enough to squid jump to the airship.

Before jumping, she looked around the corner to see what the Octarians were up to. A similar ship was directly under the airborne one, but was heavily damaged and looked like it had crashed. Shara recognized this from a squid sisters news report. The incorrectly labeled UFO was actually an Octarian airship all along. A number of Octotroopers had surrounded the ship, and were planting explosives along the hull.

"They're trying to destroy the evidence. Either that, or making sure we can't reverse engineer their technology." Shara looked at her surroundings again, and saw several discarded weapons, likely from a past turf war. One of the weapons caught her eye. "Inkzooka," Shara said, picking the weapon up. It only had enough charge for a single shot, and the nozzle wasn't compatible with her ink tank. It was likely a pre special morph version of the weapon. She shouldered the weapon, turned back to the airship, and squid jumped aboard. When she landed, she was face to face with an Octostriker, and 3 Octobombers supporting it.

"Well, lookie here," said the Octostriker, grinning. "Inkscum thinks it can just waltz in like it owns the place." The four Octarians, who were equipped with Octocopter gear, went airborne. Shara quickly splatted the nearest bomber, and watched it roll off the side of the airship. "Don't just sit there, get it!" The Octostriker yelled, as he retreated to the far side. The two remaining bombers moved in, and threw a pair of splat bombs to where she was standing. Shara dodged, and fired her splattershot pro at the second Octobomber, taking it down. Just then, the warning indicator on her automap lit up.

"Is he crazy?" Shara, who had very little room to maneuver, barely managed to avoid the inkstrike. She turned her weapon on the Octostriker, only to see it grinning at her again. The last Octobomber had moved in behind her.

"You may be able to dodge a few splat bombs," it said. "But let's see how you do against one of these." Shara whipped around and fired a burst at the Octobomber. While she was successful in splatting it, the bomber had managed to throw a seeker at her, which exploded on her lower torso. Her legs went numb and she collapsed on her ink tank. The Octostriker moved in for the kill.

"Nice try, kid," said the Octostriker, making sure to stay out of range of her splattershot pro. "Any last words before I send you to squid hell?"

"Now that you mention it," Shara said, as she brought the inkzooka to bare. "Always make sure to have a full understanding of your enemies equipment." The grin on the Octostrikers face changed to a look of terror, as he scrambled to lock an inkstrike onto Shara's position. By the time the missile was ready, the inkzooka's charge was already barreling down on him. He opened his mouth to scream, but fell silent as the charge completely engulfed him. When the ink cleared, all that remained of the Octostriker, was a large pool of ink where he had been hovering.

Shara activated her Squee-G, and rested while the purple ink was being removed from her body. "Only one use left," she said, as the Squee-G finished and shut down. Shara got up, walked to the center hatch of the airship, and peered down inside. Inside the craft, she saw a zapfish hooked up to various machinery. "So they use the zapfish to keep this thing airborne? Clever. I'd better get it back to Cuttlefish." She unhooked the zapfish from the engine, and the airship immediately began to lose altitude. Back outside, she squid jumped back to the transport kettle, just as the airship crashed down on to the Octarians below, completely destroying it.

…

Callie and Marie, were waving to the cheering crowd as they finished singing High-Color Evolution. "Thank you, everyone!" Callie said, excitedly. She looked around at the crowd, hoping to see Kirk and Neptune. Her squid phone suddenly vibrated, and when that happened during a concert, it could only mean something big came up.

"Please excuse us for a moment," Marie said, as Callie checked her messages. "Is it Gramps?" She asked, turning to Callie.

"Yeah," Callie said as her face became serious. "Something happened with the new agents. He wants us to report to OctoVally."

"What horrible timing," said Marie, glancing at the confused crowd. "We'll have to cut this short."

Callie put her squid phone away, and looked at Marie. "Let's finish up with Ink Me Up, and our version of Now Or Never. Those seem to be the fan favorites."

"Agreed." Marie turned back to the crowd and returned to her stage persona. "Due to a Callie related error, we are going to have to end our concert a little early, but we'll finish up with every bodies favorite songs."

"Hey! Not fair, Marie!" Callie yelled, as Marie signaled the stage crew to start the next song.

…

At the same time, Drake and Commander Mclarrin, had spent the last 10 minutes arguing, while his squad stood behind him in full combat gear. Reggie sat at the communications station, and was messing with the radio.

"It's too dangerous!" Yelled Mclarrin. "I won't put this facility at risk just so you can go confirm what we already know. There is nothing out there! NOTHING!"

"We don't know that!" Drake yelled back. "For all we know, other humans could have survived the floods. Or maybe aliens landed and took over the planet. I don't know, but nothing will be gained by keeping us cooped up here!"

Brandon was tired of the argument, and turned to Reggie, who was still screwing with the radio. "Stop playing with that thing. What? Are you trying to pick up Jazz FM or something?"

"I'm just trying to see if there are any signs of the Eden... Huh? What.. The... Hell?" The rest of the guards turned their attention to Reggie, while Drake and Mclarrin continued to argue.

"Say you're right. If there are humans left out there, what are you going to do? Lead the descendants of insane raiders right to our doorstep?"

"Uh, guys?"

"Well, what about the beacon that woke us from our cryofreeze? It might be the Eden ship."

"Guys!"

"If it were them, they would have contacted us by now. They know where to find us. You're just grasping at straws-"

"GUYS! SHUT UP, AND LISTEN!"

Mclarrin snapped around and glared at Reggie, with a vein throbbing in her forehead. Reggie cranked up the volume on the radio, and everyone in the command center froze. It was immediately clear what had gotten his attention. Coming from the radio, was a melody that no human had ever heard before. Accompanying this, was a pair of voices that had a pitch and resonating sound that sounded unreal. Alien almost. After a few seconds, they realized that they were listening to a song, and it was coming from outside the Eden base.

The rest of the survivors were piling into the command center, drawn by the sound of the strange music. Drake looked around, and saw that everyone, Including Mclarrin, were mesmerized by the melody coming from the radio.

"This is... amazing," Drake said.

"It's so beautiful," said Brandon.

"Who ever is singing this, I demand an autograph!" Said Takeshi, as Justin elbowed him in the ribs.

"This makes me glad to be alive." Even Matt was in awe. The singing stopped, and the song was over. Then, a much faster paced song began to play. By then, the entire crew of 70 were packed into the command center, and those that couldn't fit inside were looking in from the hall way. As the new song progressed, every single human had gotten into it. Some were dancing, others were cheering, and many had their hands in the air, waving like a bunch of teen aged idol fanboys.

"This is it," Drake said to himself. "This is exactly what we need. There really is something still out there." The song ended, and as everyone came down from their euphoria high, they all wore embarrassed but happy looks on their faces.

"Tell me you recorded that," Brandon said to Reggie.

"Way ahead of you," said Reggie, as he held out a flash drive. Drake took it and handed it to Manfred.

"Can you make copies of this and distribute it to everyone?" Drake asked.

"Not a bad idea, son," Manfred said, taking the flash drive. "We could try playing it over the PA system too."

Drake turned to Mclarrin, who was trying to hide her tears. "Still think there's nothing worth exploring out there?"

"Yeah, yeah. You made your point," Mclarrin said, and handed Drake a key. "But the main entrance and motor pool, stay locked down. Use the emergency hatch next to the launch bay."

Drake turned to his team. "You heard her. Let's get this expedition started!"

"Roger!" The five guards responded, as they headed for the airlock.

…

"HE DID WHAT?" Shara was listening to Cuttlefish's explanation to her, regarding Levin.

"I can't reach him on the communicator either," he said in a panicked voice. "You've got to go after him, Agent 4. Who knows what that boy has gotten into."

"I will," she said, already moving to the transport kettle. "This is my fault. I promise I'll bring him back."

Cuttlefish watched Shara transform and hop into the kettle. He was deeply regretting getting them involved in this, even if it was out of necessity. "What have I done."

Coming out of the transport kettle, Shara immediately ran for cover, and began looking for signs of Levin. She spotted one of the downed Octolings in a corner. The Octoling was still breathing. 'That must be Levin's work.' Shara remembered his act of mercy in Ceph, and knew it was him. She saw another two Octolings closer to the center, but noticed one of them was dead. "Things must have gotten bad. I'd better hurry up."

...

The Octoling officer that was straddling Levin, took out her Squee-G, and let it de-splat him just enough so that he could speak again. "So, you gonna tell me what a kid is doing here?"

"Me? What about you? How cowardly do you have to be to try to poison our food?"

"This from the species that forced us to live underground with barely enough zapfish to keep the lights on!" Levin could tell this was a touchy subject, and decided to avoid angering her further. "Who sent you!" Levin remained silent. "Is the army so pathetic that they send a kid to fight their battles? Tell me what your assignment is!" Again, Levin kept his mouth shut. "If you aren't going to talk, then you are of no use to me," said the elite as she stood up. "You're just a kid. I would like to let you go, but you still killed one of my girls."

"But I didn't.. I mean, I didn't try to kill her." The Octoling took a moment to look into his eyes.

"You know what? I believe you. Which is why I'll make this quick and relatively painless. Now hold still!"

Levin's fear had reached the breaking point, as the Octoling raised her weapon. But instead of pulling the trigger and splatting him, she jolted three times and fell forwards. The Octoling moaned in pain, and her back was covered in orange ink. Levin looked around to see where the ink shots came from, and saw Shara running to him.

"Levin!" She screamed, and crouched by his side. "Levin, speak to me! Oh no, what have I done!" She took Levin's Squee-G out of his pocket, and activated it. The little robot went to work, and Levin could feel the rest of his senses returning to him.

"Ugh, Shara? You came back for me? Why?"

"I'm so sorry, Levin," she said, while holding him up. "I shouldn't have left you alone. I didn't mean to hit you either. I just lost control, and..."

"No, it's not your fault. I get it now. You were right all along. I was acting like an idiot, and that's twice I've almost gotten us killed."

"Levin, it's okay. You're alive, and that's all that matters right now."

"But we don't belong here. It's like you said. We aren't soldiers, and this isn't the turf wars. I just wanted to do something for Inkopolis, but..."

The Squee-G had finished it's job, and Levin regained control of his limbs. Shara reached out, and helped him stand, while changing her colors back to blue to match Levin. "I'm going to find the zapfish," Shara said. Levin looked at her in surprise. "I don't want that to happen to anyone else. Let's give working together another try."

Shara extended her hand. Levin thought for a second, then reached out and took it. "You got it, boss."

"Idiot," she said, and smiled. Levin was surprised by this, as this was the first time he had seen her do so.

Shara went to grab the zapfish, while Levin went over to the injured Octoling. He took out his Squee-G, and started to lean towards her. "Levin! What are you doing?" Shara yelled, while holding the baby zapfish. "She almost killed you!"

"I can't just leave her. She'll die if I don't do something." Levin placed the Squee-G on the Octoling, and pressed the activation switch.

"You know, for someone who was all hot for splatting Octarians, you are way too nice." She moved behind the Octoling, and raised her weapon. "Don't try anything funny." The Squee-G finished it's job, and shut down. Levin picked it up, and saw the Octoling look towards him.

"W-why?"

Levin didn't have time to respond, as Shara brought her weapon down on the Octolings head, knocking her out. "Better safe than sorry," she said, anticipating his response. "Come on, let's go."

Shara was making her way back to the kettle, and Levin went to retrieve his blaster. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind, and a hand covered his mouth. He was forced to turn around, and was face to face with another Octoling elite. "Listen very carefully," she said in a low voice. "Don't make any sudden moves, and don't call for your friend. Nod if you understand." Levin nodded, and the Octoling released him. He noticed that her chest plate had a different insignia on it than the four he had fought earlier. "My face is up here, soldier!"

Levin's face went red. "Wha? But I wasn't.."

"Sure you weren't." Levin swore that she was rolling her eyes at him from behind her goggles.

"So what do you want?"

The Octoling reached for something in her pocket, and handed it to him. It was a piece of paper with a series of numbers written on it. Underneath the numbers was one word: Octobot. "Give it to your leader," she said. "I'll take care of those three. Now go!"

Levin grabbed his blaster and turned to leave, but stopped and looked back. The Octoling made a gesture, and two more emerged from the shadows to pick up the three that were unconscious. "I wonder what that was all about," he said to himself, as he made his way back to Shara. She was waiting by the transport kettle with a worried expression.

"There you are! Where did you get off to?"

"I was... talking to an Octoling."

"You what!?"

"She gave me this." He showed her the piece of paper he had received.

"What is this?" She asked.

"I don't know, but we'd better show Cuttlefish." The two changed to their squid form, hopped into the kettle, and were shot back to OctoValley.

…

Otome was watching her leader, Kelly, pace back and forth. The four Octolings had been waiting for the Inkling team for the past few hours, and they were long over due. "Do you think they stood us up, ma'am?" Otome asked.

"I don't know," Kelly responded. "If this was a trap, they would have attacked us by now." Kelly stopped pacing, and turned to Otome. "I'm going to scout ahead. Call me on the communicator if you hear anything about the Inklings."

"Understood." Kelly moved out, and Otome took out her binoculars to survey the surrounding area. The other two Octolings were relaxing, and chatting to each other.

"Do you think there is really going to be another great war?" Kira asked.

"I don't know, but that's what we are here to prevent," said Okha. "Those lazy Inklings could have at least met us half way and been here on time."

"I saw an Inkling a few months ago, near OctoValley. He was kinda cute. I'll have to see if I can find him again, if we ever get on good terms with them."

"Don't be stupid. You know we can't-"

"Shut up, and take your posts!" Otome snapped. "I do not want to explain to Kelly how we got ambushed because you two were slacking off!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The two responded and took defensive positions.

"Say what you want about General Octavio's war mongers, but at least they have better discipline than the Guardian Corps." Otome was speaking from experience. She had once been apart of General Octavio's faction, before Kelly had saved her from that doomed existence. Otome owed Kelly a lot, and this was causing her to become concerned. She should have come back by now. "Where is she?"

"Is that her over there?" Kira said, while pointing. Otome sighed with relief, as her leader approached them.

"I just got word from Commander Ophelia. They've moved the meeting point closer to the city, and are waiting for us there."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, but we need to get moving." The Octolings gathered their gear, and moved out once again. They had been walking for half an hour, when Kelly stopped. "This is the meeting point, but... where are they?"

"I don't like this," Otome said, her guard up.

"Ma'am, what's that?" Okha raised her weapon, and pointed to a bush that was shaking.

"You there! Come out slowly!" Otome shouted. A figure emerged, and Otome's eyes widened. What came out of the bush was not an Inkling, but a Carnivorous pack hunter, also known as a land shark. It wasn't alone.

"Help!" Kira shrieked. A shark had pounced on her and bit into her arm.

"Open fire!" Kelly yelled, and Otome took down the shark attacking her comrade. Okha moved to help her team mate up, but was pounced on by another shark. It bit into her neck, and she went limp. Another jumped on Kira to finish her off. It was down to just Otome and Kelly.

"DAMMIT! This isn't good!" Otome said, and threw a splat bomb at the sharks mauling the bodies of her team. They had taken down a number of sharks, but half the pack still remained. Otome turned to her leader, and quickly splatted a shark that was about to attack Kelly.

"Thanks, Otome!" She said. At that moment, Otome felt an impact on her back side. A shark had pounced on her, and bit into her shoulder. "Otome!" Kelly yelled, and shot the shark before it could finish her off. The remaining pack hunters turned to Kelly. "You want me? Fine, then come and get it!" She splatted the nearest shark and took off running, leading the others away from Otome.

"Kelly... no!" Was all she could get out, as her consciousness left her.


	7. 1.5 – Emergence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors notes: The add on chapter has now been merged into this one. From now on, a string of symbols or garbled text, indicates a language barrier or a translation failure from the ink\octo perspective, and gibberish will be from the human perspective.

When Drake's team stepped out of the airlock, it was immediately clear that time was not kind to this part of the facility. There were various forms of plant life and fungus growing on the ground, and cobwebs on the walls. The control room was an absolute wreck, and much of the launch bay had rusted or collapsed.

"Is it even safe to go out this way?" Brandon asked. "Frigging Mclarrin should have opened up the main entrance for us."

Drake opened the door to the emergency exit, and peered into the hall that lead to the exit hatch. "Doesn't look much better in here."

"Okay, I'll go fir-" Takeshi walked into a line of cobwebs, and began swatting the spiders that were now crawling on him. "Spiders! I HATE SPIDERS! That's it! I'm burning every web I see!" He quickly took out his lighter and began burning webs. The rest of the team walked past to board the lift at the end of the hall.

"Wait!" Drake said, stopping his team. "We don't know what condition that thing is in. Let's take the ladder, just to be safe." Drake grabbed the ladder and shook it a few times to see if it would hold his weight. "Seems like it will hold. Let's go up one at a time to be sure." Drake climbed the ladder, took out his key to open the hatch, and turned it. The hatch opened, and bright sunlight filled the passage. Drake was stunned at what awaited him after he climbed out of the hatch.

The first thing he noticed, was the intense heat. It had to be at least 90 Fahrenheit, and was accompanied by high humidity. This was only made worse by the fact that the team was wearing body armor, helmets and gas masks. The other thing that was out of place was the environment itself. When they went to sleep, this was an aired and high altitude wasteland. Now, the air was thick, and the ground was covered in plant life, many of which Drake had never seen before. There was even a river nearby. But the strangest thing was a city in the distance. Drake was sure the only settlement in this area, was in a nearby valley.

"What the hell is this?" Asked Matt. "These things were definitely not here before."

"Forget that," said Reggie. "This heat is killing me. Can we please take the masks off?"

Before Drake could snap at Reggie, Justin chimed in. "We don't know if the air is even breathable right now. Why do you think I'm taking samples?"

While Justin was taking samples and scanning with the spectrometer, Drake turned to his team. "Remember, we aren't here to start a fight. Stay alert, but keep your weapons lowered. Don't fire until I give the order."

Justin spoke up. "Drake, the preliminary scans are complete. I can't explain why, but the air seems cleaner than it's ever been. No signs of the pollution, or any unknown pathogens. I'll have to take the sample to the med lab to be sure."

"Alright," Drake responded. "You should get a water sample before heading back down."

"Good idea. Are you guys going to check out the city?"

"Later. For now, we need to find the source of the beacon that woke us from the cryosleep. And leave the masks on!" The team left Justin to his own devices, and moved out. They were walking to the west for almost 10 minutes, but then Drake signaled the team to stop. Something was moving in the distance. Two strange creatures, that could only be described as a blob, were slowly advancing on the team.

"What is this?" Said a stunned Brandon.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look like the talking type. Waste them!" Drake pulled the trigger of his G36 assault rifle, and emptied half a magazine into one of the blobs, while Brandon and Matt, unloaded on the other one. "Cease fire!" He yelled, and watched as the bullets they fired were dissolved in the creatures body.

"Oh that's just great!" Said Matt, sarcastically.

"Anyone have any ideas?," Said Drake. The team backed away from the creatures.

"Just from looking at it, I'm guessing this thing is a simple cell based organism. Almost like... an amoeba. That large orb in the center? That's probably going to be the weak point." Reggie aimed his sniper rifle at the nucleus, and fired a shot. The effect was the same. "But I have no idea on how to hit it."

Takeshi pushed passed them, and fired two shots at close range. Brandon grabbed him, and pulled him back as the creature lunged at him. He then hit Takeshi on the back of his helmet. "Idiot! If the rifles didn't work, what made you think the shotgun would?" Drake reached for his belt, and unhooked one of his grenades. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Those things can't be stable," said Brandon.

"You got a better suggestion?" Drake said, and pulled the pin from the grenade. He lobbed it at the nearest Amoeba, and like the bullets, it was pulled in. Instead of being absorbed, the grenade exploded, and the nucleus was destroyed. The creature stopped in its tracks, and appeared dead. Before Drake could give the order, Matt had already pulled the pin on one of his grenades, and threw it at the other blob. The grenade exploded, and the creature ceased its movements.

"Well that was fun. Any more surprises?" Matt asked.

"Everyone is fine, so let's keep going," said Drake, and the team continued moving. The source of the beacon was just ahead, and Drake signaled for the team to stop again.

"Is that an escape pod from the Eden ship?" Asked Brandon.

"I think so. It has the Eden insignia. Let's take a look inside." Drake hit the emergency release switch, and the pod opened. The inside of the pod was empty, say for a small container that was strapped to the chair.

"It's the ship's black box," Drake said, as he picked it up. "Matt, Reggie, get this thing back to the command cen- wait, no." Drake paused for a minute, and handed Reggie the box and a key. "Put this in my locker, and tell no one what we found. I'll look at it in private."

"Are you sure that's wise? Commander Mclarrin will have your head for hiding this," Reggie responded.

"If I'm right about what's recorded on that... well let's just say it won't be pleasant."

"Understood," said Reggie, as he took the box and key.

"We still have time, so we're going to head towards the city," Drake said, and the team separated. After walking towards the city for some time, the team stopped again. This time, their surprise was even greater. All of them stood in shock at the sight before them.

"Are those... people?" Said Takeshi.

While he had seen some strange things on their trip to the surface, this was the first time Drake was at a loss. There were three figures lying on the ground. While they looked human in appearance, their heads were larger and more rounded than that of a human. That wouldn't have been too shocking, if not for the four long objects on their heads. It was definitely not hair.

"Was Drake right about the aliens?" Said a confused Takeshi. "Or maybe an evolved life form? I wonder if they are intelligent."

"Well, they're wearing fairly modern looking outfits, and those look like guns to me. I'm not sure what those tanks are," said Brandon, referring to the clear cylinders containing a strange purple liquid.

"They look kinda dead to me," said Takeshi.

"Let's take a closer look. Yell if any are alive." Drake walked up to the nearest figure and bent down to touch it's skin. It felt cool and smooth to the touch.

"I think this one is dead," said Brandon.

"Same here," Takeshi responded. Drake hesitated for a moment. On one hand, this creature could be dangerous, or contain harmful contaminate in its body. Going any further would risk contamination to himself and the facility. Especially if Justin was wrong about the air. But his gut feeling got the better of him, and he removed his mask and pressed his face next to the figure to check for signs of breathing.

…

It was at this time that Otome slowly regained consciousness. Her head was throbbing, and she had no feeling in her limbs. She felt an odd sensation on her face, and thinking Kelly had returned for her, she slowly opened her eyes. The figure kneeling down in front of her was not Kelly. The figure raised it's head and pressed a hand to her forehead. It was a little rough, but also warm. A strange sensation for an Octoling, who was used to the cool and smooth touch of her comrades.

Otome looked at the figure's face, though it likely couldn't tell because of her goggles. Its head was smaller that any bipedal life form she had known, and while his head was covered by a helmet, she was sure it didn't have any tentacles. His eyes were also smaller, and lacked the distinctive marks of either the Inklings or Octolings. Suddenly, the figure spoke. "$*(#% #%# # **$^* !$^*#$"

"W... what?" Said Otome while she fought to stay conscious.

The figure jumped up, and turned around. "#%(%# #%*(&# $*( & !"

…

"Guys! Over here, she's alive!" Drake yelled to his team, and they came running over.

"Wait, how do you know it's a she?" Takeshi looked over the figure on the ground, who was on her back, unlike the other two that were lying face down. "Oh, I see what you mean. Where has this creature been all my life?"

"Takeshi... stop talking," said Brandon, annoyed.

Takeshi turned to Drake. "So what do we do here, Drake?"

"I don't know. She looks wounded. If Justin was with us maybe... we'll have to take her with us." Drake regretted sending their medic back to the lab to check the samples.

Shocked, Brandon responded. "Drake, I don't think... I mean, even if that was a good idea, can Doctor Harkov even do anything for her?"

"You got a better idea?" The team turned back to the figure on the ground, and looked her over.

…

Otome had watched the exchange with confusion. This language they were speaking clearly wasn't Oceanic. She did notice that there was one word that had been spoken multiple times and that the one nearest her had responded to it. "Is that it's name?" She said to herself.

"#$(% ! )#%( ! #~!# Drake." She watched the figure respond again. Yes, definitely his name.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another figure emerge, and her eyes widened from behind the goggles. Two of the pack hunters that were chasing Kelly had returned. Otome weakly raised her hand to try and warn the creatures that were standing in front of her.

…

"Fweyu oyeh jetti shu!" While Drake didn't understand the words, he understood the pointing gesture. The team turned, and raised their weapons.

"Is that what I think it is?" Said Takeshi.

"If you're thinking it looks like a wolf with the head of a shark, than I would say yes," Responded Brandon. The two creatures began to charge.

"Open fire!" Yelled Drake, and he emptied the remainder of his magazine into the land sharks. The two pack hunters staggered, and dropped dead. Drake dropped the empty magazine, and swapped it for a fresh one. "Well, at least the rifles work on those."

Takeshi turned to the team. "What a world we woke up in. Giant Amoebas, girls with red tentacles, and now land shark wolf... things. Speaking of which." The team turned back to the strange girl, who had fallen unconscious again. "So what do we do with Drake's new girl friend. Are we still taking her back?" said Takeshi, half joking.

"I was able to administer basic first aid, but her wounds are too heavy. We're taking her with us. I'll take this side, someone get the other. And remind me to kill you later," Drake responded.

"I'll make a note of it," Takeshi said, as he grabbed the other side of the figure and lifted her up.

Brandon sighed, and followed the team back to the Eden base. "Every one back home is going to crap themselves."

"Don't know what you're worried about," said Drake. "I'm the one who has to report all this to Commander Mclarrin."

…

Kirk and Neptune, were splatting targets at the test range, while Sheldon stood behind them and watched. "Okay, that's enough. Good work, you two," Sheldon said, and the two stopped. Neptune turned towards Sheldon, curious to hear what the weapons dealer had to say. "From what I can tell, you two already have a firm grasp on your weapons. Props to Kirk for taking the time to master the splatling. Even the mini isn't very popular, due to the time it takes to get used to."

Neptune looked at Kirk, and saw him grinning to cover his obvious embarrassment. "I thought it was just the squid sisters, but I guess he really gets embarrassed easily. I'll have to keep that in mind," Neptune said to herself with a grin.

"Let's try something else. Follow me." Sheldon moved to the upper floor of the target range, along with the two Inklings. He then set up a larger target on the far side of the platform. "Pretend this is an Inkling armed with a hydra splatling. He's already seen you, and has begun to charge. What do you do?"

Kirk and Neptune quickly created two ink trails going in opposite directions, and changed to their squid forms. When they reached the end of the trail, they switched back to bipedal, and unloaded on the large target, causing it to burst. Neptune looked back at Sheldon, who shook his head.

"Too simple. The hydra anticipated Kirk's movements, and splatted him while he was swimming. The hydra then unloaded the rest of his charge on Neptune, taking her out before she could inflict enough damage. That might have worked on a charger, but with splatlings, you have to take the length of their spray into account." Sheldon took out his notebook and made a diagram of a more complex pincer movement. "Try this," he said, showing the Inklings the image. "Use what ever cover you can, and try to bait the splatling into unloading its charge prematurely. When that happens, get up real close and hit him before he can charge up again or retreat."

Neptune turned to Kirk. "You ready to make the squid sisters proud?"

"W-what do they have to do with this?" He responded, and blushed. This was going to be fun for Neptune. Sheldon reset the target, and signaled the Inklings to start. They moved out, and carried out the complex maneuver. Unfortunately, they took Sheldon's advice about getting close a little too literally. They both reverted to bipedal, and jumped out of their ink at the same time. Neptune banged her head on Kirk's helmet, and both fell backwards.

Neptune got up and gave Kirk a light slap, pretending to be mad. "Are you that desperate for a kiss that you would steal my first?" She said.

"W-what? I-I didn't.." He stopped when he saw Neptune start to laugh. "Very funny, Neptune."

Sheldon shook his head at them again. "I reckon you two got a long way to go before you can keep up with the squid sisters."

"Sorry, sorry," Neptune responded. "Just having a bit of fun. We'll take this seriously now."

Sheldon laughed a little. "Well, until that last bit, you executed that almost flawlessly. With some more work, I think I can have you whipped into shape for your rematch."

Neptune and Kirk looked at him in surprise. "Is that okay? What about your shop?" Kirk asked.

"I'm not going to be getting much business with the turf wars on hold," Sheldon said with a smile. "But in return, you two had better give us a good show."

"Of course!" The Inklings responded, and prepared to practice into the night.

…

Drake was in the command center, and had just given Mclarrin his report. He had expected another argument, but she just stared at him with an expression of loss. Drake didn't know if that was because of the absurdity of his report, or anger at the fact that he brought an unknown life form back to Eden. Mclarrin continued to stare, her mouth moving in an unnatural way.

The silence was broken, when Manfred walked in. "Is Drake in here? Oh, there you are. Our guest is awake, and I have been trying to communicate with her while Harkov patches her up and runs tests."

"That can't be going well. She spoke to us on the surface, and I have never heard any language like that before. It sounded like what we heard on the radio," Drake responded.

"That's why the autotran has been having so much trouble picking it up," Manfred said, as he pointed to an earpiece he was wearing. "I have gotten a few words registered, but I still can't hold anything resembling a conversation."

Drake was surprised. "Wait, you got the auto translator working? I thought you scrapped that project."

"A little something I did in my spare time. Turns out, it was a software problem, rather than a hardware like I originally thought, but it's working now. I tested it on Japanese with Takeshi." Manfred turned to Mclarrin. "Sorry, but I need to borrow Drake for a while." Mclarrin just nodded and turned away. Apparently, she had given up.

Drake followed Manfred out of the command center. "So what do you need me for?" He asked.

"Well, there is one word we didn't need the autotran for, and she said it several times." Manfred stopped, and turned to Drake. "It was your name."

"What? How? Why does she know my name? Why would she..." Drake was as confused as when they first found her on the surface.

"She must have overheard it at some point," Manfred said, and handed Drake the autotran. "I think she feels grateful to you for saving her, so she might have an easier time talking to you. I want you to take over for me, and try to build as much of a database for the autotran as you can." Manfred paused for a moment. "This is our first contact with a clearly intelligent species. You're our best bet for making it a friendly one."

"No pressure, right?" Drake responded sarcastically, and followed Manfred to medical. Drake looked around, and saw Harkov applying bandages to their guest, while Justin was examining several air and water samples, as well as the purple liquid they saw in the cylinder. Justin, who had changed out of his security uniform, looked up as they walked in.

"Doctor Von Kaufmann, I finished the analysis on the air and water samples. The air is cleaner than it has ever been, and no traces of pollution remain. On the other hand, the water is still quite polluted. The strange thing is, I also picked up an unknown substance."

Manfred's face went dark when he heard that. "I'll take the water sample with me to my lab. There's something I need to look into. I'll take the purple liquid sample as well." Manfred took the samples, and Harkov turned to them to speak.

"Drake, I don't know where you found this creature, but this is the most fascinating thing I have ever seen in my entire life." Harkov held up an X-ray that was completely blank. "I took this one first. I thought the machine was malfunctioning, so I did one on Justin next." He held up another X-ray, that looked like a normal human chest. The third one he showed them was blank like the first. "So either this means she has no bones, or her skin can somehow block X-rays. After examining her wounds, I would guess it's the former. She is likely able to retain that form with muscles alone."

He then showed them a sample of purple liquid. "This was coming out of her wounds. It seems to be an ink like substance, and she is capable of producing more. Between this, the lack of bones, and the tentacles, it's almost like she's... a Cephalopod."

"A what?" Drake asked.

"Like a squid, or an octopus. If you want my opinion, what we have here, is an evolved octopus."

Drake looked at the figure on the bed. Her goggles had been removed, so he was able to look in her eyes. They had a yellowish green color, and a purple ring surrounded them. She also had a plate of armor over her chest. The rest of her cloths, were a black tank top, black shorts and black combat boots. He noticed that her red tentacles were a little darker than the two that they found dead. She turned, and saw Drake looking at her. "Imi tenyea shu, Drake?"

Drake placed the autotran in his ear, and Manfred turned to him. "I've already taught Justin how to operate the database. I'll be in my lab, so see what you can do." Manfred left, and Drake approached the supposed octopus, with Justin behind him holding a data pad.

"Drake?" She asked again.

"Yes, my name is Drake," he said, speaking as slow and clear as he could. "Drake Von Kaufmann."

"Mahe negeya idi Otome," she responded.

"Excuse me?"

" Mahi- name- idi- Otome," she said, and pointed to herself.

"Otome?" Drake asked, and she nodded.

"How are you feeling?"

"I don't- yeganuea shu," she responded, confused. Drake repeated the question, and this time the autotran sent out enough for her to understand.

"Mehi- head hurts and- tetani- still feels- nugye," She then leaned forwards, and bowed her head. "Thank- shu- for saving- meni- Drake."

"It's starting to become a little more clear," said Justin. "Keep at it."

"You're welcome," Drake said, and she smiled a little. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"My team- vamu- ambushed. Pack- henenui- Killed two of my %$%#. Our leader ran- ameni- to try to lead- tem sahaki- away. I don't- kemo- if she survived."

"By the same animal that attacked us?"

"Yes. Pack hunters- ani- very dangerous- ari tenia- got the drop on my team." The autotran was becoming much more clear, and they were having an easier time understanding each other.

"By the way, Drake. I don't- memvhi- to be rude, but what are you?" she said, looking at his now exposed hair.

"Well..." Drake said with a sigh. "I'm what you call.. a human. We, uh, went extinct about twelve thousand years ago. Apart from the people in this building, that is."

Otome's eyes widened. "T-the elder race?! I don't believe it! We thought you were long dead!"

"We're all that's left. And we would be gone too, if not for my father's cryogenic pods," Drake said, with a sad face.

"I-I see," said Otome. "Can you tell me more about, what did you call yourselves, Humans?" The red tentacled girl was looking at him witch such curiosity, that he just had to oblige. Otome was usually one to keep her mind on business, but was always fascinated by the former surface dwellers. She wondered if this was why she was so calm in a situation that would make most Octarians extremely unnerved.

"*#%*(%# (%# * % #% *"

"What was that?" Asked Otome.

Drake smacked the device on his ear. "Sorry about that," Drake said, and pointed to the autotran. "This device is called the auto translator. It's what allows us to communicate like this. It was only recently created, and still has plenty of issues."

"That's amazing! It would be sad if all we could say are our names," said Otome.

Drake turned to Justin. "How is the database coming along?"

"It's still has a lot missing, but there is enough that it should be able to compensate for the missing words. I don't think communication will be much of a problem at this point." Drake nodded, and turned back to Otome.

"Anyway, I don't mind discussing humanity, but what did you mean by the elder race? How much do you know about us?" Drake knew the term referred to the should be extinct humans, but knowing how much Otome already knew would make it easier to explain things.

"Every now and then, elder race artifacts and fossils get dug up, either in the mines or during construction. There's also the ruins of a town in a valley, not far from here." Drake knew of the settlement that Otome was speaking about. "As for the term, we didn't know what else to call you. A lot of our technology was actually dug up and reverse engineered. The Inklings are especially fond of your technology and culture. Both my people, and the Inklings, used to share what we found... but then the war..." Otome looked down.

"Sounds like they picked up a few our bad habits along with our remains," Drake said to himself. He was curious about these Inklings she mentioned, but chose to save that for another time. "Well, forget about that. What do you want to know?"

Otome looked at Drake, and was immediately drawn to his hair. "What are those things on your head? They look like thousands of tiny tentacles."

"My hair? I guess that would be new for you." Drake walked to Otome's side, and bent down. "Want to touch it? Go on. It won't hurt either of us."

Otome hesitated a little, then reached over. Like when she felt his hand on her head, this sensation was both new and strange. "Fascinating," she said. By this time, she had completely forgotten her objective as a member of the Guardian Corps, and just wanted to indulge her curiosity. She could tell the humans were just as interested in her, since the other two in the room had their eyes glued to her.

She stopped, and Drake stood up. "I can imagine that was quite different than your tentacles. Speaking of which, you mind?"

Otome paused for a second, then nodded. "Okay, but be careful."

Drake reached out and touched one of her tentacles with his right hand, while supporting it with his left. As he ran his hand over the long appendage, he thought it felt similar to her skin, but with a sort of slimy feel. It was strange, but not repulsive. He saw her jump a little, and stopped. "Sorry. Did that hurt?"

"N-no, it's just a little sensitive." Drake let go, and Otome relaxed a little.

"Oh, I have a question," Otome said. "I-if you don't mind, can you tell me what caused you to almost go extinct? Our scientists have been debating that for quite some time now. I don't think the Inklings have the slightest idea, either."

"That's not an easy question to answer," Drake said.

"O-oh, forget I said anything," Otome said. She was worried that she had upset the man who was not only an elder race survivor, but also her savior.

"No, it's okay. I just needed to think for a bit." Drake paused for a moment. "We had become complacent and lazy. We relied to much on dirty fuel systems, and didn't keep the damage we were doing to the planet in check. There were people, like my father, who tried to warn them, but very few actually listened." Drake paused again, and Otome watched in silence. "The growing population didn't help, either. Back then, the ocean levels were a lot lower, and there were billions of people living on the planet."

"Billions?" Otome said with clear shock. "I can't even imagine that many people existing at once."

"Trust me, it wasn't easy. Even with all the land, we still had frequent wars." Drake's expression was dark, and Otome understood this. While the great turf war was long before her time, the effect it had on her people was still felt to this day. "Anyway, we finally did so much damage that the arctic regions hit the breaking point and melted rapidly. This caused the ocean levels to increase dramatically, and in one year, half our land was underwater. After two years, almost everything was covered, and most of the land mammals, including us, went extinct."

"I'm s-sorry, Drake."

"Don't worry about it. Our time was up, that's all." Drake paused again, and decided to change the subject. "So, want to know about life before the floods, or all the cool stuff we had?"

"Oh, yes! Please!" Otome smiled as her face lit up. Drake began to tell Otome about the life and culture of his people, while Otome listened in amazement. They talked about many things. Technology, fashion, culture, and even entertainment. Otome was particularly interested in video games, as unlike the Inklings, the Octarians had none.

"We have some good board games, but we really don't have the time or resources to use for entertainment purposes," Otome said with a hint of sadness. "That sounds really interesting though. A lot of us were really jealous of how the Inklings learned to make their own video games."

"When you have recovered, we can try playing a few games." Drake's face changed to a smirk. "Provided you are ready to lose, of course."

"I'll crush you!" Said Otome, as she bared her pointed teeth.

"Whoa, okay. Someone doesn't like to lose." Drake was enjoying teaching the Octoling about his people, when he noticed her yawn.

"I think she has had enough excitement for one day," said Justin, and Harkov nodded.

Drake turned back to Otome. "You're still weak from the attack. You need to rest."

"Can we talk tomorrow? I would like to ask something of you." Otome said, as she laid back down.

"Sure. I haven't heard about your people yet." Drake turned to leave, then stopped. "By the way, do you know about that city I saw in the distance?"

"That's Inkopolis, where the Inklings live. I would stay away from there, if I was you." Drake could tell she did not think of these Inklings favorably, but that did not stop his curiosity. Drake put his gear back on, and headed back to the airlock.

"Hold it, Drake!" Mclarrin yelled at him from behind. "Where are you going now? Don't tell me you are going back to the surface."

"I haven't checked out the city," Drake responded. "Don't you want to know where those amazing songs came from?"

"No! No, I don't, actually."

"Look, if I'm by myself, I may be able to poke around and get some pictures with out causing too much of a stir."

"In your security Uniform?" Mclarrin said, getting angry again.

"Well what am I supposed to wear? My jumpsuit?" Drake snapped, and Mclarrin just sighed.

"Fine, but leave the rifle. I will not have you start a war."

"Deal, but I'm keeping my .45," Drake said, and surrendered the rifle and grenades. Drake stepped into the airlock, and prepared to venture to the surface, once again.


	8. 1.6 The Battle of OctoVally part 3

Cuttlefish was staring in silence at the two Inkling agents that had just come out of the Octarian transport kettle. After a few minutes, he finally spoke up. "Thank you for your work, up until now. Agent 3, Agent 4, You're dismissed." Cuttlefish turned away from them, and headed towards his shack.

"What?" Shouted Levin in disbelief. "You're firing us? But what about the zapfish?"

Cuttlefish turned back towards the two Inklings. "Agents 1 and 2 are on their way. They will take it from here."

Levin continued to protest. "But why? Is it because we haven't found the big one yet? I mean sure we might not be fast, but I think you're being a little unfair abou-"

"Silence!" Cuttlefish said in a commanding voice. Levin immediately shut up, and stood at attention. "You two both agreed to follow my commands. I told you to stick together, but you didn't listen. Do either of you realize just how close you were to getting killed?"

For a minute, both Inklings were silent, as they had no counter for this. Levin was trying to think of a way to convince the old Inkling to change his mind, when Shara spoke up. "Sir, please," she started. "I know what we did was stupid. We both do, but we learned our lesson. We can work together now! I swear!"

Levin jumped in next. "We can still find that zapfish. If you won't let us go alone, at least let us help Agents 1 and 2!"

Both Inklings were looking at Cuttlefish with determination. The old Inkling sighed, as his anger subsided. "You still got that look in your eyes. While I can't tell if that's a good or a bad thing, I'll give you another chance. But I want your oath that you will stick together and follow my commands this time."

"We swear it!" Said both the agents.

"Good. It will still be a little while before 1 and 2 get here, so I'll have you check out this transport kettle." Cuttlefish marked a point on their automaps.

Levin started to follow Shara to the kettle, but stopped. He remembered the piece of paper the Octoling gave him, and turned back to Cuttlefish. "By the way, an Octoling gave me this," Levin said, as he handed over the piece of paper.

"What is this?" Cuttlefish took the paper, and examined it. "You say an Octoling gave it to you?"

"Yeah. She seemed different than the ones we fought with, and had a symbol on her armor that was also different."

"Hmm, I wonder what this could all mean. Well, Bucko, you'd better catch up to your partner. I'll try and figure this out while you're gone."

"Roger." Levin turned and ran to catch up to Shara. The two Inklings changed forms, and hopped into the kettle. When they emerged, Levin took a moment to look around. They appeared to be back in Ceph, but the architecture of the buildings was a lot different. There was a large stadium shaped structure in front of them, and an amusement park to the rear.

"Aye, looks like you're on the Octarian side of Ceph." Cuttlefish said over the communicator. "I remember that park. Went there with a pretty Octoling before the war. There should also be an old turf war Colosseum nearby. The sport was a lot more dangerous back in those days."

Cuttlefish started to ramble, when Shara interrupted him. "Which way should we go first?"

"Ah, right. Excuse me. I don't know if the zapfish will be at the stadium or the park, but start with the stadium so you won't have to back track as far. Good luck, you two."

Levin started walking towards the stadium and turned to Shara. "Shall we?" The two Inklings stood and the entrance, and peered inside. The stadium was dark, and appeared to be empty. "I don't think the zapfish is here," said Levin.

"Looks that way, but let's check it out just in case," Shara said, and the two jumped down to the lower platform where the games took place. They wondered around in the darkness for a minute, then Shara suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Asked Levin.

"I felt something." Shara dropped down and put her face to the ground. The vibrations grew stronger, and rumbling sounds could be heard.

"I feel it too," said Levin, and Shara jerked up in a panic.

"Levin, Run!" The two Inklings ran for the platform they came from, but stopped before they could squid jump out. Waiting for them on the platform, was a full squad of Twintacle elites with Octosnipers supporting them. Suddenly, the lights came on, and Shara realized that this was a trap.

"Look out!" Shara yelled, and pushed Levin out of the way. Just then, the vibrations stopped and a circle of jagged teeth emerged from the ground, separating the two.

"Shara!" Levin took his blaster, and aimed it at the teeth to try and free his partner. Unfortunately, it was too late. The teeth rose from the ground, and a huge pair of jaws closed around Shara. Levin could no longer see her.

"I don't believe it!" Cried Cuttlefish over the communicator. "It's the Octomaw! One of the great Octoweapons. Agent 3, you need to get out of there!"

"But I can't just leave her!"

"It's too late! Once that thing has you in it's jaws-" Cuttlefish's voice cut out, and the communicator stopped transmitting. The giant robotic creature emerged from the ground, and lunged at Levin. Not having time to run or create a new ink trail, all he could do was quickly change forms, and dive in the short ink trail he made after shooting at the creatures teeth. He was able to pass under the creature by a very narrow margin, and reverted back to bipedal after it passed over.

The robotic creature turned and faced Levin. Now that he was able to get a good look at it, the robot looked like a giant metal fish. It's red eyes were fixated on Levin, and its teeth were bared in the shape of a grin. "Bastard!" He yelled, and fired another ink ball at the teeth. By pure luck, he hit the same tooth, causing it to shatter. From the narrow opening, Levin saw something that made his heart jump. It was Shara, and she was still alive. Unknown to them, the Octomaw was unable to completely close its jaws because of its age.

"Shara! Quick, get out of there." He fired a few more ink balls, breaking several more teeth. "Come on!"

"I can't!" She yelled back, and Levin saw why. An enormous tentacle had emerged from a large hole in the center of the Octomaw's mouth, and was trying to pull Shara inside. Levin took aim with the blaster, and tried to hit the large tentacle. This only angered the creature, and it shut its jaws to lunge at him again. Levin had just enough time to squid jump over the Octomaw. When he came down, he turned to the Octomaw, with his blaster raised. Unfortunately, the creature had detached several of its teeth, and they shot towards him. Levin tried to roll out of the way, but one of the teeth managed to cut through the side of his uniform and pierce the side of his torso.

"Damn it!" He shouted, as he winced in pain. He forced himself to fight the pain while the Octomaw turned towards him again, and he could make out the figure of Shara, still resisting the giant tentacle. "How do I kill this thing," He said to himself. After a few seconds of shooting at the teeth, an idea popped into his head. He readied a splat bomb and aimed for Shara.

"Shara, catch!" He threw the splat bomb at Shara, who caught it with her left hand. She turned, and wedged the bomb between the tentacle and the hole, just before it exploded. The creature roared, and the tentacle withdrew into the hole, spraying purple ink all over the ground. Shara jumped free, just as the Octomaw collapsed.

"Thanks Levin," she said while limping over.

"Any time. Besides, I still owe you one for that-" Levin stopped, as a sound from behind made them jump. The two whipped around, just in time to see the tentacle emerge from the hole.

"This thing doesn't know when to quit!" Both Inklings unloaded on the large appendage that was advancing on them. The combination of Shara's pellets and Levin's ink balls, was just enough to drive the tentacle back into the hole. Levin lobbed another splat bomb in behind it. The creature roared, and even more purple ink sprayed out. After a moment of floundering, the Octomaw rolled over, and exploded.

"Pretty good, Levin!" Shara said, and held her weapon up.

"You too, Shara. Nice catch with that splat bomb." Levin held his weapon up, and tapped it against hers in a sort of high-five gesture. Shara bent over to catch her breath, and Levin took out his Squee-G to help her.

"No, save it. I'll be okay in a few minutes," said Shara. She turned to where the Octomaw was, and saw a baby zapfish struggling to get away from the ink. Levin ran over to retrieve it. "They must have been using the baby to power that robot. How ingenious," said Shara.

With the interference gone, Cuttlefish's voice came in on the communicator. "Well I'll be filleted. You beat one of the Octarian wonder weapons! I knew you two would make a great team!"

"Thanks, Cap," said Levin. "Shara is a little banged up, so we are going to rest here a bit before we head back."

"Well, you certainly deserve a break. I'll have some crabby cakes ready for when you get back. Agent 1 and 2 should be here by then, and I've been wanting to introduce-" Suddenly his voice was cut off, and a new one was heard.

"Hey hey, Y'all! Scritchy Scratch, Yo!" The new voice boomed.

"What? Who is this?" Said Cuttlefish, both alarmed and confused.

"CUUUTTTLLLEEEFIIISSSHHH!"

"You? N-no It can't be! NOOO-" Cuttlefish went silent, and the communicator stopped transmitting.

"Cap'n? Cuttlefish, can you here me?" Shara asked over the communicator. "What happened?"

The voice that responded was the unknown one from before. "Scratch one Cuttlefish. Sit tight, my soon to be captive audience. I'ma be coming for you, next." The communicator went silent again.

"Sounds like the Captain is in trouble. We need to get back. Can you walk, Shara?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. Let's go." The two inklings headed back to the transport kettle. Fortunately, the Octarians guarding the exit had already fled.

Back in OctoValley, the two Inklings were searching for any signs of Cuttlefish. Shara came out of his shack, and informed Levin that he was not inside. Frustrated he kicked a nearby tree, then noticed something on the ground. It was the piece of paper the Octoling gave him. "Huh, I wonder if he managed to figure out what this was," he said.

"Forget that, we need to find him!" Shara was about to start searching the kettles, when a voice behind them made them freeze.

"You shouldn't rush these things, unless you want to get into trouble." Surprised, they turned around with their weapons raised. Two Inklings were standing by the pipe leading to Inkopolis. They were wearing pink and green outfits that covered most of their bodies.

"I'm Agent 1. Nice to meet you," said the pink one.

"Agent 2," said the green. "3 and 4, I assume?" The two nodded, and Levin wondered where he had heard their voices from. After shaking hands, the four sat down on a nearby log. "We'll get Cuttlefish back," said agent 2. "But first we need to come up with a plan."

…

Drake was taking cover in a narrow alley in the outskirts of Inkopolis. He had sneaked into the Inkling city about an hour ago, but his progress was made slow, due to him having to keep out of sight. He had hoped his security uniform would help him blend in as a police officer, but he had seen no uniformed authorities. Because of this, he had to stick to alleys and other underpopulated areas. When moving through a crowded area, he had to keep his face down, and avoid staring or glancing at what he assumed were the Inklings to avoid drawing attention to himself.

There were two figures in front of him. One had his back to him, and had a pair of tentacles in a pony tail style, though they were a different shape than Otome's. The other figure had yellowish skin, and his head was covered in spike like objects. Drake took a photo of the two with his data pad. 'I wish I could get a good look at the front side,' he thought. He moved a little closer to the figures.

"It wasn't easy mate, but I found the gear you were looking for," the spiked figure said. The Inkling took it and looked it over.

"This will do. We can always count on you and your connections," said the Inkling.

"Next time, you mind coming to the plaza? Skulking around alleys just draws attention to yourself, and while most of the cops may have been folded into the army, that doesn't mean we won't get caught eventually. Better to hide in plain sight."

"Yeah, yeah. I think I'm good for a while anyway." The Inkling turned to leave, but the spiked creature stopped him.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting something, mate?"

"Right, my bad." The Inkling handed the spiked creature a pouch of what Drake assumed was money.

"Thanks, love. Always a pleasure." The two figures departed, and Drake was left in the alley alone.

"Guess I walked into something dangerous," he said to himself, and continued to walk in the direction of a large tower. After another half hour of walking, he reached his destination. The Inkopolis main plaza, and home of the turf war games. Drake, of course, didn't know this. He was behind the shopping center, and a wall prevented him from getting any closer. Drake climbed a nearby ladder, and took time to look around when he reached the top.

The view of the plaza was pretty impressive. Many Inklings were gathered around, though he couldn't make out the details from the roof. He took out his data pad, and took some pictures. Drake now understood what Otome had meant about the Inklings adopting human technology. The automobiles and trains were proof of that. At one point, he even saw a helicopter fly over.

'If they know so much about us, maybe making contact won't be too difficult. Then again, I got lucky with Otome. I can't really count on such a setup happening here. I need to come up with a plan.' Drake continued taking pictures for a while, until he got all he could from the rooftop. 'It's almost dark. If I wait a few more hours, I can get a closer look at ground level.' Drake sat down and decided to eat his packed meal while he waited. "Matt was right. This stuff from the agridome is crap," he couldn't help but say out loud.

…

It was now night in OctoValley, and the four agents sat around a fire while eating their dinner. "Gra- I mean Cap'n Cuttlefish is going to be pretty mad at us for eating his crabby cakes," said Agent 1, while stuffing her face.

"We can't fight on an empty stomach, can we?" Said Agent 2. "The kids looked like they were about to starve."

Levin had been wondering where he had heard their voices from, but he couldn't place them. He decided to give up, and concentrate on enjoying is meal. "You got that right," he said, as he woofed it down.

"Don't talk and eat at the same time!" Said Shara, as she gave him a light smack with her tentacle.

"EY! You almost made me drop it!" He said, and tentacle smacked her back.

"Ha! The Captain wasn't kidding when he said you two make a great pair," said Agent 1.

"No way!" They both retorted.

"Hey, Levin, I heard you're a big fan of the squid sisters," said Agent 1.

"What? Who told you that? I mean it's true, but... okay, yes I am."

"How big a fan?" Asked Agent 2.

"Well, I have a lot of albums and a few figures. Oh, and I try to go to as many of their performances as I can."

"That's pretty Fresh," said Agent 1.

"You should see my friend, though. This guy, Frost, I swear has every single piece of merchandise there is. He also refuses to miss a single performance, even if he is too sick to move. If I'm a big fan, than this guy is an obsessive fanboy of the worst kind."

"That sounds pretty bad," scoffed Agent 2, and Agent 1 leaned closer.

"So, which of the two squid sisters do you like more?"

"Wha!? Why would you... I mean, Why does that-"

"Awww, come on," said Agent 1, leaning even closer. "Every fan has one they fancy more. You can tell us."

"Do tell, big guy," said Shara, while rolling her eyes.

"I like them both, but if I had to choose one, I would go with Marie."

"Huh?" Said Agent 2 with a clear expression of surprise. "Why m- why Marie?"

"I know she has a smart and sarcastic mouth, and plays it cool on stage." Levin started. "But I heard from someone that she's really kind and caring to her friends, and those she's close to. I think that's a pretty nice feature."

"I- I see," said Agent 2, who turned around to cover her red face.

"I think you made an impression, you dogfish," Agent 1 said, while smacking Levin's shoulder.

"Ca- I mean AGENT 1!" Agent 2 whipped around, and Levin could swear she was sending her death glares from behind her face mask.

"Okay, that's enough," said Shara. "We need to figure out how to rescue Cuttlefish."

"About that," said Agent 2, who took out the piece of paper with the numbers on it. "I figured this out. It's a list of coordinates and times. If I have this right, this Octobot thing should pass by here, right about-" Agent 2 checked her watch. "Now." As soon as she said this, an enormous Octarian airship approached their position. Agent 1 and 2, turned to Levin and Shara. "If you want to back out, now is the time," said Agent 2.

"We came this far," said Levin. "We want to help you finish this."

"Thanks," replied Agent 2. "When the airship is close enough, squid jump to it. We'll rescue Cuttlefish, You two get the zapfish." The team turned to the approaching airship. "Ready... and... now!" The four Inklings shifted to squid form, and launched to the Octarian craft. All four agents made the landing, and Agent 1 moved towards the entrance hatch.

"Over here!" She said, and the Inklings jumped inside.

"Okay, let's split up here," said Agent 2. "We may not be able to help you if you get into trouble, so watch yourselves." The two teams split up, and Levin and Shara moved further inside. On the far platform, they could see the great zapfish floating in place.

"I always forget how big that thing is," said Levin as they cautiously approached.

"This has to be a trap," Shara responded, then stopped. "Look!" Shara pointed to the other side of the large room. Cuttlefish was tied to a stake, and appeared to be trying to call to them. "Agent 2, we can see Cuttlefish. He's being held on the far right side."

"We see him too," she responded. "We're on our way, so concentrate on the zapfish!" Shara turned back to where the zapfish was, only to see that it had vanished. In it's place, was a large flying robot. Glaring at them from the cockpit, was the figure of a large octopus.

"Is that a male Octoling?" Asked Levin. "They sure make them big."

"That's no ordinary Octoling. It's General Octavio from the great turf war. I remember reading about him."

"I see my reputation precedes me!" Boomed Octavio. "Y'all ready to get wrecked?" Octavio began working the controls, and a strange music could be heard from his ship.

"Music? Why is he playing music during a battle?" Levin's question was immediately answered, when his head started to throb.

"It must have some sort of hypnotic effect. Get a hold of yourself, Levin!" Shara yelled. Levin did his best to shake it off, and the two Inklings advanced on Octavio. While Levin was confused as to why the Octoling General hadn't attacked him yet, he took the opportunity to fire a shot from his blaster at the cockpit. The ink ball merely bounced off an invisible barrier.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? Well, now it's my turn." Octavio hit a switch, and several torpedoes were fired at the Inklings. After shooting down several of them, and dodging the rest, the Inklings took cover.

"Great, now what do we do?" Asked Levin.

"I don't know. We'll have to think of another way to- Look out!" A large metal fist was flying towards them. Shara barely managed to jump away before the fist struck her location, but she wasn't able to avoid all the ink splatter.

"I'm okay!" She shouted to Levin. "You got another one coming at you!" Levin turned towards the approaching fist and fired an ink ball at it. The fist slowed, and he fired another shot. This time, the ink ball caused the fist to change course, and fly towards Octavio. The Octarian had not expected this, and made no attempts to dodge. The shield absorbed most of the damage, but Octavio was knocked back.

"Oh, you did not just do that!" He roared. "Okay, Let's see how yah handle both at the same time!"

Octavio fired both fists simultaneously, with a barrage of torpedoes for good measure. This time the Inklings were prepared, and dodged the torpedoes with ease. Levin took aim at the Left fist, while Shara took the right. Both fists were sent back to their owner, and collided with the Octobot shield. While the shield had again taken most of the damage, it was now at critical levels.

"This would be a lot easier, with out that music messing with my head!" Said Levin, as he moved towards Octavio.

"Okay, no more fists strikes," said Octavio, rubbing his head. "Let's drop the sea bass!"

"Killer Wail!" Shara made a quick ink trail, and grabbed Levin as she dove in. They two Inklings barely managed to avoid the surprise blast from the Wail. Octavio retreated, and dropped several Octotrooper deployment pods as he went.

"We don't have time for this! Levin, splat bombs!" The two threw a pair of splat bombs to distract the Octotroopers, while they rushed past. Octavio stopped above a raised platform, and the Inklings caught up.

"Y'all ready for this?" Octavio bent over, and a large pod emerged from behind him.

"What is that?" Levin asked.

"I don't know, but it's filled with ink. Get ready, Levin!" The pod was fired, and slowly approached the Inklings. Not wanting to take a risk, they made an ink trail to the sides, and moved away from where the pod would hit. The pod exploded, and a massive pool of ink was left where it crashed.

"Holy crap!" Levin said. "Good thing we didn't mess with that." Octavio laughed, and retreated again. This time he moved over a series of cat walks. He was obviously leading them to a place where they had less room to maneuver, but they had no choice but to follow. When they caught up again, Octavio had already fired another pod which was rapidly approaching them.

"Look out!" Shara yelled. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough time or space to completely avoid the pod. It crashed in the space between them, and both Inklings were covered by the splatter, and partially paralyzed.

…

Manfred was frowning, as he examined the water sample in front of him. "This can't be right," he said. "I'd better run the test again." The results came back the same. Manfred tried another water sample. Still the same. He cross referenced the sample results with the formula he had pulled up. The unknown substance that Justin had reported, was a close match, though it had deluded considerably over the years.

'It was in the ink sample too,' he thought while looking at the sample he took from the cylinder. 'This can't be mere coincidence.' Manfred left his lab, and headed for medical. The two guards from second squad noticed him, and nodded. "Late day?" Asked Manfred.

"Drake asked us to make sure no one bothered our... guest, until he got back. Doctor Harkov already retired for the night. I guess we can't really stop you from going in."

"Then, if you will excuse me." Manfred entered the medical bay, and looked around. Otome was sleeping on one of the beds. Her chest plate and Goggles were on the nearby table. Manfred took a moment to look at her. 'This really is an amazing creature. I had thought they evolved naturally over the years, but... this may be humanities true legacy. The question is, was it a good one?'


	9. 1.7 - The Battle of OctoValley part 4

"How'd you like that?" Octavio laughed, as the two Inklings were struggling to move. "With this next one, I'ma remix your face!" Before Octavio could ready the pod again, his music shut off, and a new signal could be heard.

"Signal override!" Levin looked over, and saw agent 1 and 2 on the far platform. They had removed their head gear, and now Levin realized why they sounded familiar. A new song could be heard over the loud speakers. It was a brand new squid sisters song.

"It was Callie and Marie the whole time?" Levin said, completely stunned.

"Agents 3 and 4, we got cuttlefish. The rest is up to you!" Levin looked over, and saw Marie helping the old inkling walk, and he could hear her say "don't you ever worry your grand-squids again".

Octavio was pounding on his control panel to block out the hijacked signal. The Inklings took advantage of this, and use the Squee-G to de-splat themselves. After a few moments, Levin's de-splatting finished, and he stood up. "That was my last use," he said.

"Same here," Shara responded. Her Squee-G was still working, and she couldn't move.

"Agent 3, take these!" Levin looked over and saw Callie toss him a pair of objects. Catching them, he looked down to see what she gave him. It was an inkzooka and a bubbler shield. Levin Looked over just in time to see the Killer Wail charge for another blast, while a volley of Octotrooper pods were launched behind them. He quickly activated the bubbler shield, and jumped in front of Shara, just as the Wail fired on her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she said and stood up. Levin tossed the inkzooka to Shara.

"Try using the inkzooka on that pod. Maybe you can deflect it like we did with the fists. I'll keep those Octotroopers off your back!" Levin gave her a quick wave, and charged down at the advancing Octarians. Shara turned back to Octavio, who had readied the large pod once again.

"One at a time, or both at once. It doesn't really matter to me. Commin' at yah!"

Octavio fired the pod, and Shara took aim with the inkzooka. She fired a blast at the pod, and finally was able to send it back. Unfortunately, Octavio shot his left fist, and hit it back at her. Shara fired again, and Octavio used the right fist to counter. The pod was now traveling at a much higher speed, and Shara barely managed to fire her last charge on the pod. With the fists still deployed, Octavio no longer had a way to counter attack. He fired a few torpedoes, but to no effect. The pod, now full of blue ink, broke through the damaged barrier and crashed into the cockpit.

"So... sad." Was all he could get out, as the Octobot rapidly started going up in flames. After several small explosions, the craft went up in a ball of fire and ink, and Octavio was violently ejected. He hit the ground hard, and passed out.

"They got the General! Abandon ship!" The remaining Octarians fled in a panic. Levin, who had a fair amount of purple ink on him, came over and slapped Shara on the back.

"Nice shooting! We really gave it to them, didn't we?"

"Yeah, we did. Thanks again for that trick with the bubbler. I guess we're even now."

"You should thank Callie for that. She was the one who gave me the gear." Levin extended his hand, and Shara took it. "Nice working with you, Shara."

"You too, Levin." The two Inklings turned to the injured Octavio. "So, what do we do about him?"

"We take him with us." A voice behind them made the two Inklings jump. Cuttlefish was standing behind them, along with Callie and Marie.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? And how do we even get him out of- Wait, where is the zapfish?" Levin asked, while looking around for the giant creature. As if on cue, the zapfish hovered down to where they were standing.

"The zapfish can drop us off at my shack on the way back to Inkopolis. Let's hurry and get him on. The airship has probably started losing altitude." Cuttlefish calmly took position by the creature's head, while the four agents pulled Octavio on. The zapfish slowly started to hover towards the exit hatch.

"Are you sure it's safe to ride thi- SHHHIIIIII-" Levin struggled to keep his grip, as the zapfish lunged forward, and cleared the airship. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of the large craft colliding into the valley below.

…

Kirk and Neptune had spent the last few hours practicing drills under Sheldon's supervision. "That's enough for one night," said Sheldon, as he handed the pair of Inklings some drinks.

"Thank you, sir," said Kirk. He took one of the beverages and chugged it.

"So, what do you think?" asked Neptune. "Are we ready to dominate the next splatfest?"

"Well, you certainly improved quite a bit. And you even managed to master the hydra maneuver with out banging heads."

"You aren't going to let us live that down, are you?" Said Kirk, as he looked over and saw Neptune laughing again.

"Really, I think you will do fine. The squid sisters will be proud to have you on their team."

"Thanks for taking the time to train us," said Kirk.

"You can pay me back by winning that match," responded Sheldon.

"To be fair, it was Kirk that needed it the most. I was just along for the ride," said Neptune, jokingly.

"You Lie!" As the two started to argue, their squid phones vibrated. "Huh? I got a message from... Callie!?" Said a shocked Kirk.

"Yeah, I got one from Marie," Neptune responded.

Kirk looked down to read the rest of the message. 'Hey, Kirk! Sorry for the sudden message. I had the staff look up your number, but I was too busy to contact you until now. I know it's short notice, but can you come to the plaza in half an hour? We would like to make up for what happened at Triggerfish. -Callie'.

Kirk looked up, and locked eyes with Neptune. "You going?" She asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," he responded, trying his best to contain his excitement in front of Neptune.

"Sounds like you two should get going," said Sheldon. "I'll see you two when it's time for your rematch."

…

Back in OctoValley, the four agents were standing behind Cuttlefish, as he stared at Octavio, who was now imprisoned in a large sphere. "You can't keep this DJ in here forever!" Said Octavio. Cuttlefish just sighed, and turned away.

"Believe it or not, we used to be friends before the war," Cuttlefish said to the agents.

"Bro! Don't go bringing up ancient history! That's a mistake I don't care to live with."

Listening to this, Levin came to a realization, and started laughing uncontrollably. "W-wait, you s-said the War? T-that was over one hundred years ago. H-he's an old man a-and talks like he's s-so fresh!" Was all Levin managed to say, before he collapsed in laughter.

"Tch, slimy little hipster..." Octavio turned away, and went silent. Shara gave Levin a light kick, and he stood up.

"They get along so well, don't they?" Said Callie, and Marie just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway." Cuttlefish turned back towards the Inklings. "I have a favor to ask you. I want you to keep what happened tonight a secret."

"What, Why? Shouldn't we turn him over to the authorities?" Asked Shara.

"I have reason to believe he wasn't acting in the interest of the Octarian government. You said an Octoling, that was wearing a different symbol, gave you that slip of paper, right? They wouldn't do that if he was following emperor Octurus's orders. In fact, there's a good chance Octavio was going to use a victory against us to usurp the throne." Cuttlefish thought for a moment before continuing. "If we make a big stink here, it may reignite the great turf war. If that happens, we may never achieve piece."

"Okay, we got it. The secret is safe with us!" Said Levin.

"I knew we could count on you!" Said Callie.

"Really, you two are a big help," Marie Added, and the two idols approached them. "We can't offer you fame and fortune, but Callie and I have an idea on how to thank you."

Cuttlefish chuckled a little. "Well, its almost midnight. You four had better get back to Inkopolis."

"Right. See you later, gramps!" Callie said, and the four Inklings dove into the pipe.

…

Frost was wondering around Arowana mall. For the past several hours, they had been searching for Levin, and Frost was getting more worried by the minute. It was almost midnight, and there was still no sign of him. "Where is that idiot!" Frost shouted. "I know splatfest was canceled, but he could have at least said something if he wasn't going to meet up with us!"

"Calm down, Frost! Maybe he just went home and crashed," said Bass.

"He would have answered his phone if that was the case."

"Hey, there's Citra. Let's ask her if she saw anything," Bass said, as he pointed to his approaching teammate.

"He wasn't at the kelp burger diner," she said in a meek tone.

"Well, that's just great. I'm about to just give up." Frost sat down on the bench and shook his head.

"Umm..." Citra started. "You think... maybe we were too hard on him?"

"Nah, it was for his own good," responded Bass.

"He isn't really the type to hold grudges. I'll bet he probably forgot about it by now. Just like he forgot about how he was supposed to meet up with us.." Frost's rant was interrupted by the familiar chime of an Inkopolis news report.

"Something big must have happened if they are on the air this late," said Bass, as the inklings attention shifted towards the monitor. The familiar faces of Callie and Marie came into view.

Callie was the first to speak. "Hey everyone! I hope you will excuse us for interrupting you this late, but we just had to share this fantastic bit of news with you guys!"

"The great zapfish has returned," Marie said. "We don't know where it went, or how it got back. I guess that will be forever a mystery."

"But you know what that means! Turf wars are back on, and we can resume splatfest in a few days!" Responded Callie.

"Wow, that is great news!"

"Everyone who is still awake should come to the plaza so we can resume our concert. Party at midnight!" The two signed off, and the monitor went dark. Frost, Bass and Citra, all looked at each other.

"Umm, you think Levin will be there?" Asked Citra.

"It's worth a shot," Responded Bass. "Besides, our leader here, would throw his mother under a train to see the squid sisters."

"You shut up!" Frost shouted, as he chased his teammate to the tram station, with Citra in tow.

As the 3 Inklings arrived at the plaza, they walked up to the back of the crowd, and looked for a place they could get a good view from. Frost looked over at Bass, who had an odd look on his face. "Hey, check that out. There are some Inklings dancing with the squid sisters."

This caught Frost's attention, as the squid sisters hardly ever did pair up performances. "The two next to Callie are the winners of the pairing contest. I think their names were Kirk and Neptune." Frost looked to the Inkling on the left of Marie. "Is that Shara?"

"When did she get so friendly with the squid sisters?" Said Bass, confused.

"Frost... is that who I think it is?" Citra was pointing to the Inkling to the right of Marie.

"LEVIN!" Frost roared, and the Inklings in front of him turned around to glare.

"What... the... hell?" Bass was clearly in shock.

"I'm going to kill him..." Frost stated. He was pushing his way into the crowed, when Citra grabbed on.

"Wait, Frost!"

"Hell no! We have been looking for him for hours, and all this time he was getting familiar with the squid sisters. THE SQUID SISTERS!"

Bass rushed over to help Citra. "Dude, seriously. Do you really want to make a scene in front of them?"

Frost stopped, and relaxed a little. "Fine. Let's watch the concert, for now. We'll kill him when it's over."

…

An hour later, the concert was over, and most of the Inklings had gone home. The squid sisters, the agents and the contest winners, were chatting behind the makeshift stage. "You guys are pretty good on your feet," said Callie. "It was really fun."

"R-really? I don't think I'm very good on stage," Kirk responded shyly. Callie chuckled a little at this.

"Well, at least I don't have to worry about you headbutting me on stage," said Neptune with a grin.

"Neptune!"

'Those two are so cute,' Callie thought to herself. She watched as the Inklings talked among each other, but she then saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over, and saw a figure behind the mail box. It was taller than an average Inkling and wore strange clothing. It was staring at her and the other Inklings.

"Hey, Marie. What is that?" Her cousin turned and looked over.

"I see it too. That can't be an Octarian, can it?"

"What are you girls talking about?" Shara asked, as she came over.

"Perfect timing!" Callie said, and pointed. "Look over th- huh?" Callie looked over to where the figure had been standing. "It's gone?"

"Are you two okay? Maybe you were just seeing things."

"Not both of us," said Marie. "Hey, Callie, why don't we mention this in tomorrow's news? Maybe someone else saw something."

"Oh, great idea! I'll make a drawing of what we saw."

"You just let me handle that," Marie said with her signature smirk. Callie puffed her cheeks out a little.

"Not cool, Marie!" Callie exchanged a few jokes with her older cousin, then walked to where Levin was. "Have a good time?"

"I did. Thanks for inviting us. I really needed that to unwind," Levin responded.

"Hey, I can call Marie over for you," said Callie, as she elbowed him a bit.

"W-what? T-that's okay, I already got to see the nice side of her," Levin said with a red face. "A-and I'm glad that you are just as upbeat as you are on stage."

"D'aw, your such a- wait, do you know those guys?"

Levin looked over, and saw Frost waving at him. He had a smile on his face, but Levin knew him long enough to know that he was seriously pissed off. Bass and Citra looked at him with worried expressions. 'Oh crap, I forgot to call him,' he realized. "Nah, must be one of your fans," Levin said.

"Don't lie to Callie." Shara walked up to them. "Come on, I know they are your friends. After all, you did have that big argument about turf war tactics."

"That doesn't- wait, how do you know about that?"

"Levin! Over here!" Frost yelled.

"Great..." Levin said to himself. He looked back at the other Inklings. Kirk and the Squid sisters were looking at him with concern, while Neptune and Shara were anticipating throwing him to the land sharks. As he turned to leave, Shara handed him a piece of paper.

"What's this?" He asked.

"My contact information. If you survive, give me a call tomorrow. I might have an offer for you."

"Great.. Thanks, I guess." Levin left the group, and approached Frost and his team.

"Levin, old buddy, old pal. We need to talk..."

…

It was now 2 in the morning, and Drake had just managed to make it out of Inkopolis. He was resting against a boulder, while trying to catch his breath. 'That was stupid of me. Any longer, and I would have been caught for sure.' Drake took a sip from his canteen. 'Still, I'm sure those two were the voices I heard on the radio. Maybe if I can talk to them, tell them how they saved us from our downward spiral, perhaps that can be a pretext for opening dialogue.' Drake took another sip and stood up. 'But making contact with an entire race will be a lot more difficult than when it was just Otome. I know she doesn't like them, but maybe I should ask for help.'

Drake took a look at his data pad. 'Wish I could have gotten some better pictures.' The only photos of the Inklings Drake managed to get, was the backside of the Inkling in the alley, and a few blurry images from the rooftop. Drake put the pad away, and started his 1 hour trek back to the shelter. "And when are Marco and Hiragi going to have a vehicle ready?" He said aloud.

It was 3 am when Drake made it back to the shelter. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he opened the hatch. 'I should check in with Otome, and see how she is doing,' he thought, as he descended the ladder. He prayed Commander Mclarrin had already gone to bed.

Drake emerged from the airlock, and headed down the empty halls towards medical. After a bit of walking, he stopped at the open door to the command center that he had to pass to get to his destination. He sighed with relief, upon seeing that the only people in the room were Officers Keagan, Niwa and a few of the support staff on the night shift. Commander Mclarrin had already retired, and Drake would be spared from having to report the fact that he had been spotted at the Inkling city.

Drake nodded to Officers Lehrer and Allen, as he entered the medical bay. Inside, he spotted the figure of Otome, who was laying on one of the beds. 'Fast asleep, huh? Well, that's good. I should probably go,' he thought, and turned to leave.

"Drake, is that you?" Otome said from behind him. Drake turned back and saw that Otome was actually awake, and was now sitting up.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Drake responded. Otome rubbed her head a bit, then adjusted her tentacles.

"No, I was already awake. Another elder ra- erm, human, was in here earlier," she responded.

"Was it Harkov? The guy who patched you up?"

"It was the older man who tried to communicate with me before you. He was there when I told you my name." Otome paused for a moment. "He just came in, looked at me for a minute, then left."

"Ah, that would be my father, Manfred," said Drake. "He probably didn't mean any harm by it. Scientist, you know." Their discussion was interrupted by a low rumbling sound coming from Otome's stomach. "I guess that is what's been keeping you up. Want something to eat?" Drake asked. Otome just nodded, while trying to hide her red face. "I'll get you something from the agridome, but don't expect much," Drake said. as he left the medical bay.

The lights in the agridome were dim to achieve a simulated day/night sequence. Drake looked around for the technician in charge. He found her at the monitor station, and she glanced at him. "Officer Von Kaufmann? A bit late, isn't it?"

"Hey uh, Fong, right? Yeah, I've been out all day. I came to get something for our guest," Drake said, as he looked at the available food.

"We have plenty of fruits and vegetables to spare, but any dairy products or eggs I'll have to deduct from your rations. You know how little live stock are left."

"Fine, I can go with out for a day. I'll take an apple, a carrot and some milk." Drake paused for a minute, and noticed his stomach was also empty. "Make that two apples." Fong marked this on her data pad, and handed Drake the goods.

"Tell me, Drake. Is she cute?" She said, as Drake was turning to leave.

"Did Takeshi blab to everyone he could find? I really don't see why that's relevant!" He snapped, and left the agridome.

Back at medical, Otome was enthusiastically biting into her apple. "This is delicious!" She said. "Even your food is fascinating." Drake, on the other hand, didn't care for the artificially grown produce. Then again, he was never a vegetarian to begin with.

"Do you guys not have apples either?" He asked, while eating his. "Those aren't even very good. They were grown in an artificial green house, and believe me, you can tell."

"The only eatable plant life we have, are kelp and the like. Though the Inklings have more variety, being on the surface and all. There's only so much you can grow underground." Otome sipped the milk Drake brought her. "Is this milk? It tastes very fresh and clean."

"Cow's milk, actually. I can imagine you haven't had that before," Drake responded.

"This is all so much better than Octarian cuisine. Thanks, Drake. I feel much better."

"Don't mention it. Wait, where do you get your milk from?"

Otome paused for a second and made an odd face. "Eh, maybe it's better that you don't know. Just in case you ever sample our food."

"Okay?" Responded a confused Drake. "By the way, you mentioned something about being underground?"

"That's right, I haven't told you anything about us yet. This might take a while." Drake pulled up a chair, and motioned for her to continue.

"My people are known as the Octarians. As for me, I'm an Octoling. When you were at Inkopolis, did you notice how both the male and female Inklings were pretty much the same?"

"If by that, you mean the tentacled ones, then yes," Drake said, as he checked the photos he took with his data pad. "I did see a lot of other creatures there. Didn't get a good look at any of them, though. I had to avoid eye contact, and keep my distance."

"There are other species that live in Inkopolis, like the Jellys, but enough about them. We Octarians developed a bit differently. The Octarian regulars, are mostly male, and resemble our ancestors. Octolings, on the other hand, are mostly female, and are more like the Inklings. Though uncommon, there are female Octarians, and male Octolings. Emperor Octurus and General Octavio for example." Otome paused for a minute, then grinned. "There is one more thing that separates us from the regulars. Wanna see a neat trick?"

"Sure." Drake responded, wondering what to expect.

Still grinning, Otome transformed to her Octopus form. The process was only about 2 seconds, but was more than enough to completely freak out Drake. He fell backwards, and hit his head against a table, almost drawing his handgun out of reflex. Stunned, he looked at the figure on the bed. It was similar to the Octopi he was familiar with, but had a number of different features. The eyes, for example, were positioned and shaped differently than what he knew. Otome reverted back to her bipedal form, and laughed a bit. "How was that? Pretty neat, huh?" Before Drake could respond, he heard one of the guards yell from outside.

"Drake? You okay? What was that sound?"

"It's nothing! I just tripped!" He yelled back, and pulled himself up. "So what the hell was that?"

"As you just saw, Octolings can change between two forms. In that form, we can swim real fast in our ink, as well as launch ourselves really high. The Inklings have a similar form. Though for them, it's a squid."

"Squids, huh? I should have guessed." Drake thought for a moment, then realized something. "Wait, what happened to your clothes when you changed?"

"Ah, that," she responded. "I can't really explain it well, but or clothing and equipment gets partially absorbed when we change. Thankfully, when we revert, everything goes back to where it was. It wouldn't be very useful if we came out naked, and disarmed."

"That's still one hell of a trick. I wonder how that even works. I know for a fact that Squids and Octopi from our time can't do that."

"Beats me," she said, and shrugged. "Anyway, back to your question. You remember that war I mentioned?"

"I think so."

"Well, we lost it. The raising tides forced us to go to war with the Inklings for territory. When we lost, we were forced to make a living underground for the last one hundred years."

"That sounds pretty awful," said Drake.

"It's not that bad, once you get used to it. The problem is, we also have a severe energy crisis, and many of our domes are now inhospitable."

"Energy crisis, huh? We're all too familiar with that. What does your government plan to do?"

"That's the real trick, isn't it? Emperor Octurus wants to negotiate with the Inklings for a permanent peace, in exchange for some zapfish. General Octavio wants to reignite the great turf war, and reclaim the surface with force. Both the citizenry, and army, are split into two factions, and we really can't do much until that gets resolved."

"Wait, whats a zapfish?" Asked Drake, who was confused again.

"Ah, it's a kind of fish that can produce electricity," Otome responded.

"Sounds like a biological power generator."

"Pretty much. Wait, how did your people generate power?" Otome's eyes lit up with curiosity.

"It's a little hard to explain. Why don't I just give you a tour of the facility, if we have time. It will be a lot easier to just show you."

"Oh, please!" Otome said.

"Anyway, I noticed your armor. Are you in the army too?"

"Huh? Oh, right. I'm a member of the Guardian Corps. Don't worry, we support emperor Octurus. The ones that support General Octavio, are the Mariners. Most of us refer to them as the renegades."

"So you're fighting among yourselves? I'm sorry to hear that," Drake said sympathetically.

"It hasn't gotten to that point, but we are trying to push the peace treaty before that can happen. Actually, that's what my team was doing on the surface, before we were ambushed by those damned land sharks," Otome said with a hiss. "That's also related to the favor I wanted to ask you."

Drake noticed Otome yawn, and he himself was getting really tired. "Well, we can save that for tomorrow. You need to try to get some sleep. You're still injured, after all"

"Yeah, you're right," Otome said and laid back down. "Thanks for the food, Drake. I think I can get back to sleep now."

"No problem. I'll stop by in the morning." Drake left the medical bay, and headed back to the security barracks. He really hoped that his squad would wait until morning to interrogate him.


	10. 2.1 – A Strange Morning.

10 A.M. The next day...

Levin was sitting up on his bed, having just woken up. A dull pain in the side of his face had been the cause of this, since he usually didn't get up until 11. Still somewhat sleepy, he walked to the bathroom, and checked the side of his face in the mirror.

"Damn, Frost! You really laid into me," Levin said to himself, as he rubbed his bruise. While the swelling had gone down some, it still hurt. "I guess I can't blame him, but still..." Levin commented out loud. He rubbed the bruise again. The cause of his pain was due to a well placed hook from Frost. He would have gotten a few more if Bass and Citra hadn't of held Frost back, and he considered himself to have gotten off easy. Frost said it was because he made them worry, but Levin suspected otherwise. Still, he would have likely done the same if their roles were reversed.

"Well, whatever." Levin headed towards the living room, and plopped down on the couch. He was about to pop in a video game, when he noticed the piece of paper Shara gave him. 'She said something about an offer. I guess I should give her a call.' He picked up his squid phone, and dialed the number listed. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hello? Levin?" He could here her say.

"Yeah, how did you know it was me?" He responded.

"You're the only person who knows my number that isn't listed," she said. "But never mind about that. Have you watched the morning news?"

"Nope. But hey, you said something about an off-"

"Levin, stop talking and turn the T.V. on." He reached for the remote, and flipped on his set. Callie and Marie were in the middle of their news report.

"We last saw it near the post box, after splatfest," Marie said.

"I got a good look at it, and I made a picture of the creature!" Callie said excitedly, as she held up a very rough sketch of a bipedal figure.

"Callie..." Marie said with a very exasperated expression. "I thought we weren't going to use that, and I'm hesitant to call it this, drawing."

"Well gramps likes my drawings!" Callie said, as she stuck her tongue out.

"Sorry about that. Here's the real one," said Marie, as she held up a much clearer sketch. At first, Levin thought it was another Inkling, say for the strange clothes. Then he noticed something that made it stand out.

"As you can see, it doesn't have any tentacles, or distinctive eye marks," Marie Continued.

"So we can rule out Big Tentacle, or Sasquid," Callie interrupted. Marie just sighed.

"Yes, and as I was saying, the creature was observed to be taller than any Inklings. It could be a new bread of Octarian, so if you see this life form, call this number ASAP!" After displaying a phone number, the squid sisters signed off, and Levin turned his attention back to his phone.

"What do you suppose that was?" He asked.

"I don't know, but I think we should check in with Cuttlefish," Shara responded.

"Alright, but can we grab something to eat first?"

"Hmm, I guess. Let's meet up at the burger place in Arowana mall," she said, and hung up with out waiting for his response. Levin grabbed his gear, and headed out.

…

2 Hours earlier...

Otome was doing stretches in the Eden facility's medical bay. Having woken up half an hour ago, she decided to do her morning routine while waiting for Drake. 'I wonder where he is? He said he would stop by in the morning,' she thought to herself. 'I'll be really disappointed if the humans are as lazy as the Inklings are.' Otome finished her exercises, and looked around for something to do. She noticed Drake's data pad on the table. 'He must have forgotten to take that with him.' Otome picked up the pad, and sat down on the bed while powering it up.

'He won't mind if I take a peak, will he?' As the pad came to life, Otome was immediately lost at the writing on the screen. The letters were nothing like Octarian writing, and she was sure it wasn't Inkling either. Not sure what to do, her fingers grazed the screen. The screen changed, and she jumped a little. "How did I do that?" She said aloud. She touched the screen again, and this time a number of images appeared. "Oh, this must be one of those touch screens. I heard the Inklings had these, but I guess they got it from the Humans," she continued to say aloud.

"#%(# (%#%(^# #%." Otome's head jerked up. The voice came from outside the door, and she could here a pair of footsteps walk in the other direction.

'I guess they heard me. Maybe they went to get Drake?' Otome turned her attention back to the screen, and touched one of the images. The image was enlarged, and moved to the center of the screen. 'Oh? Is this Inkopolis? So that's what it's like.' She moved her hand to the side of the screen, and the image changed again. She continued viewing the images of Inkopolis, until a new type of photo came up.

'Is that Drake and his friends?' Drake was standing in the middle of a group of 19 people with the same uniform. The caption under it said 'Eden Security force survivors, 2019,' though she couldn't read it. Otome continued to the next image, and stopped. This one was a picture of Drake standing next to a female human. "She's pretty. So that's what a human female looks like." Otome looked at the pair for a few minutes, then shook her head. "No I-I shouldn't pry." She looked for a way to get out of the gallery, and spotted an arrow. She touched it a few times, and was back at the first menu. She touched another option randomly, and by pure luck, was taken to the games screen.

"No way! An actual video game!" Otome yelled. Not being able to contain her excitement, she touched various parts of the screen to get it to start, until a digital pad and buttons appeared on the screen. It was an old game, and Otome was in control of a little human in a red outfit. She pressed the right pad button, and the human walked forward until it ran into a mushroom shaped creature. The human fell off the screen, and a number counted down by 1.

"Did– did I lose? Guess I should have figured out the controls first." After playing around for a bit, she figured out how to make the human jump, and managed to squash the mushroom creature that had killed her before. "Got ya!" Otome continued to make progress, until she fell into a pit around the half way point. "Grrr! This is harder than it looks!" After a few minutes, she reached a large flag pole, and appeared to clear the stage. "Ha! I win this time!" She continued playing the game for another half hour, and had gotten so into it, that she didn't notice the sound of the door open.

"Looks like you're doing okay." Otome jumped (which also caused her to lose her last life) and looked up. The Human doctor, as well as Drake's father, were standing in front of her. "Enjoying the game?" Asked Manfred. Otome just nodded, her face completely red. She could see the two security guards covering their smiles. Manfred glanced at the screen. "Oh, it's Super $#%# #%%#. I used to love that game."

Doctor Harkov turned to speak. " $%#%##%( #) " Otome just looked in confusion.

"Harkov, the autotran." Manfred pointed to the device on his ear, and Harkov put one on his own.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I need to change your bandages, and check your wounds."

"Oh, o-okay," Otome meekly responded, and Harkov started to remove the bandages.

"Oh, and I think doctor Von Kaufmann wanted to ask a few que- WHAT THE HELL!?"

…

Levin finished paying for his food, and took his tray to where Shara was sitting. She was munching on her meal, while writing something. Levin sat down, and looked at her. "You came to a burger place, and all you're going to have is ramen?" He asked, as he started eating his trout burger.

"What's wrong with that?" She responded. "It tastes good, and has just the amount of calories I need."

Levin took another look at Shara, who was a little short for an Inkling that would soon reach adulthood. "If you ask me, you could do with a bit of grow-" Before he could finish, Shara flicked her head in a way that caused her tentacles to smack Levin in the face, suction pod first. "Ow! What was that for? Did you really have to hit me in the same spot as Frost?"

"I would punch you, but my hands were kind of full," she said, as she finished her ramen. "I felt kind of bad for you when Frost decked you in the face, but now I think you deserve it."

"Okay, okay," Levin said as he rubbed his face. "So what are you writing?"

"A letter to my father. I don't get to see him very much, and phone calls are limited," Shara said.

"I should do that too," Levin responded while thinking. "But is that why you hate Octarians so much? Not seeing him, I mean."

"Part of it." Shara stopped, and looked around. "When I was visiting my father on the border, a soldier that had been missing for several days, suddenly returned. The guy was cut up so bad, that he collapsed and died just a few minutes after he reached the base. Turns out they interrogated him, and I don't want to think about what methods they used."

"That's awful," Levin responded. "But they can't all be bad. I mean, remember that Octoling that gave away Octa-"

"Quiet!" Shara snapped, and covered his mouth. "That's supposed to be a secret, remember?"

"Ah, right. Sorry." Just then, the T.V. Turned on, and the squid sisters appeared, with their usual introduction.

"Hey everyone!" Callie said in excitement. "We got some great news for you!"

"Now that the zapfish has returned, we are pleased to announce that splatfest will resume tomorrow." Marie turned to Callie with her signature smirk. "Provided we don't have any more Callie related mix ups, of course."

Callie puffed her cheeks out. "We'll see about that, when my team wins!" She shot back. Marie turned back to the screen.

"But for today, we will be having our rematch with the contest winners. Tune in one half hour from now to see this exciting event."

"Don't you dare miss it!" Callie said, and the duo signed off.

"Ah, that's right. I forgot that was today," Shara said, and looked at Levin, who had finished scarfing down his burger.

"Shall we head to the plaza? I'm sure Cuttlefish can wait." The two exited the restaurant, and headed for the tram station.

…

Since he only got about five hours of sleep, Drake was clearly tired. He made his way to medical, only to see a large crowd surrounding it. Several guards from first squad stood at the door to prevent them from entering. One of the civilians noticed him. "Officer Von Kaufmann! You can't keep this from us forever!" He yelled.

"Just what did you find on the surface?" Asked another.

"Is there some kind of alien invasion going on?"

"NOT NOW!" Drake yelled, holding his head. "You'll get your answers later. We still haven't worked this out ourselves. Go complain to Mclarrin if you have a problem with how I'm handling it!" Drake entered medical without waiting for a response. Thankfully, his team knew better than to press him for details.

Inside, he saw Harkov and Manfred, standing by the bed. Otome was sitting up. Her bandages had been removed, and she was wearing her armor. Harkov was shaking his head and muttering, "I don't believe it". Drake walked over to where Otome was, and placed the autotran on his ear.

"Drake!" She said, and smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning," he replied, and looked around. "Erm, something wrong?"

"I went to change her bandages a little while ago," Harkov said.

"So, what?"

"Well, take another look at her, and remember what state she was in when you brought her to us." Drake took another look at Otome.

"She doesn't have a scratch on her," Drake said.

"Exactly," Harkov responded. "That shouldn't even be possible."

"What can I say?" Said Otome. "We just heal fast. Even the worst injuries will heal in a day or two. Though I still would have died if you had not brought me here."

"I don't think there's anything else I can do," Harkov said, and sat down while lost in thought.

Drake looked over and saw his data pad next to Otome. He picked it up, and noticed the game that had recently been played. "I guess someone got their first taste of video games. Have fun?"

Otome nodded. "Y-yeah, um sorry I touched it with out permission."

"Don't worry about it. Nothing important is on it, and I doubt you could read anything private. Next time, let's try a two player game." Drake turned to his father. "So what were you up to?"

"What do you mean?" Manfred responded. "I was Just asking some questions. Or did you want to keep her to yourself?"

"Very funny," Drake said. "The last time I left something in your care, his pod let him out two thousand years before us." As Drake bickered with his father, he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to Otome.

"So, umm. Now that I'm feeling better, can I ask a favor of you?"

"Right, you mentioned that last night. Go ahead."

"Well, two things, actually. But for now, I would like you to take me to where you first found me and my team. I need to confirm their deaths, and find out if our leader survived." She walked over to her damaged ink tank, and strapped it to her back. "And I need to get my weapon back."

Drake thought for a minute. "I think I Remember where that was. Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you," she responded, and the two left medical. Unfortunately, the crowd surrounding it had not dissipated. When Drake emerged, they started to question him again, but then Otome came out, and everybody froze. Their gazes all fell on her, and she hid behind Drake. They all started talking at once.

"What is this? Is it intelligent? Are there more of them? She's so cute!"

"Okay, that's enough. You're scaring her," Drake said. "We're going back to the surface. I'll upload the photos I took of, what did you call it? Inkopolis? Anyway, I'll put them in the library computer when I get back. For now, get your answers from Manfred." Drake motioned for Otome to follow him, and he made his way to the armory.

As Drake put his armor on, and picked up a rifle and grenade belt, Otome looked around in amazement. "Are these all elder race weapons? I'm guessing they don't shoot ink," she said.

"Ink? No, they use an explosive powder to fire a projectile long distance. Wanna give it a try?"

"You bet I do!" Otome said in excitement. She put her goggles on, and took the rifle from Drake.

"Aim for the target over there. When you are ready, line up the sights, and pull the trigger."

Otome raised the rifle, and fired a shot. The weapon kicked back, and Otome staggered. She would have fallen on her rear, if Drake hadn't caught her. "Wow, that's some kick!" She said. "And the noise!"

"Yeah, sorry. I should have warned you. Good thing I didn't set it to full auto. Try again." This time Drake stood behind her to help keep her stable from the recoil. Otome Took another shot, and with Drake supporting her, was able to empty the magazine into the target. Drake hit the button to move the target forward. Some of the shots had gone wild, but most hit the center mass.

"Pretty good," Drake said, as he took the rifle back and reloaded it. "You catch on quick."

"Thanks," Otome responded. "That was fun, but I think I'll stick to my Octoshot. The kick on that kinda smarts."

"So what did you mean by shooting ink?" Asked Drake.

"That's a bit hard to explain. You remember how your doctor said I can produce Ink?"

Drake thought for a minute. "Yeah I remember him saying that."

"Well, it has a rather nasty effect on Oceanics that aren't the same color, be they Octarian or Inkling. A few hits will paralyze, and if you take on too much, It can kill. Inklings can produce ink too, but they can actually change colors."

"That sounds pretty nasty," Drake said. "I didn't know squid ink could do that."

"It is, though I wonder what would happen if a human got hit."

"I would rather not find out. Well, shall we get going? We'll take the long way around so we don't run into any more onlookers... or Commander Mclarrin."

"Lead the way," she said, and the two left for the surface.


	11. 2.2 – Squid Squads and Octo Tears

"Are you two ready?" Marie asked. The squid sisters, along with Kirk and Neptune, were about to start their rematch. The other team was ready, and the transport lobby had selected Saltspray Rig as the arena. While Kirk was still feeling nervous, his practice with Neptune gave him enough confidence to keep his cool.

"We're ready to get splattin!" He said. "I just know we'll win this time! We have to!"

Neptune looked at him and smirked. "Just don't go headbutting me if we see any hydra users."

"You're going to keep reminding me about that until the day I die, aren't you?" Kirk responded.

"You expected otherwise?"

"Okay, that's enough," Marie said, trying to get their attention. "I'll be lone sharking today, so you three should probably stick together."

Kirk looked at her, surprised, "Are you sure that's a good idea? A charger with out cover tends to be an easy target."

"That's why I brought this," she responded, and held up a scoped E-Liter. "I'll be fine."

"Just let her do what she wants," Callie said. "Marie has her own way of doing turf war. If you two want to stay with me, we should have no problem inking territory. We already know we can work together, right Kirk?."

"O-of course!" Kirk noticed Callie wink at him, and he became nervous again. Neptune just rolled her eyes.

"Down, boy! And don't forget to land correctly this time!"

"Neptune, you-mgmf!" Kirk wasn't able to finish his retort, as the transport lobby forced the inklings into squid form, and launched them to the arena. The four inklings came down, and reverted to bipedal. The starting signal blew, and Marie immediately took off in a fresh ink trail to the back of the rig.

"Follow me, guys!" Callie shouted, and the trio jumped down to the lower platform. Callie went to work inking, while Kirk and Neptune took position on the stack of crates. Hoping to catch them off guard, 3 enemy Inklings jumped down from their side. Kirk, who already charged his splatling, unloaded on the tentatek, and splatted him in the air. Neptune took out the aerospray, not even bothering to dodge his shots due to her power advantage. As for the blaster, she was rolled over by Callie before she even got a shot off. All three Inklings were sent back to the S.P.A.W.N. Pad.

"That's synergy!" The trio shouted, and high-fived with their weapons.

"Wow, you two have gotten a lot better!" Said Callie.

"Thanks!" Kirk responded. "We spent all night- wait, I saw a charger on their team. Did he go after Marie?"

"Haven't seen anything back here," Marie said over the communicator. "Nice work on that triple, but leave some for me, alright?"

"We should get back to covering turf. I'll lead, but keep an eye out for that charger." Callie started rolling a trail to the center platform, while the other two covered her. When they reached the main ramp, Neptune signaled them to stop.

"Hold up. That charger has clearly been busy, but it bothers me that we haven't seen him yet. Kirk, ink me a trail to the top of those pipes, and I'll-" Neptune was unable to finish her sentence, as a Kraken form came down on her from above. Splatted before she even knew what hit her, Neptune was pulled back to her pad. The Kraken turned it's attention to Kirk, as he tried to slow it down by unloading on it. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vein, and he soon found him self back at his pad for de-splatting. The Kraken form followed the ink trail Callie made, hoping to get a triple splat of his own. Just before turning the corner, a pink Kraken came out, and caught him by surprise. As he was forcefully reverted to his Inkling form, all he could do was wait for the pink Kraken to take him out.

"No one splats my team on my watch!" Callie said, as she reverted back to her normal form. She looked around, and saw the other 3 enemies come out of squid jumps, and land near some beacons the charger had placed before attacking them. The freshly de-splatted Charger jumped in after them, and they all headed to the back platform where Marie was.

"Guys, jump to me. We need to go help Marie!"

"Roger!" They responded, and the automap indicated their squid jumps.

"That isn't necessary," Marie said. Ignoring her, the three Inklings made their way to the center. When they got there, they saw that the entire enemy team was backed up near the middle ramp that separated the two sections.

"I don't know whats going on, but this is our chance to- wait, what the...?" Neptune stopped and pointed. Marie had taken position on the small platform that was suspended by the crane, and was lying prone. The charger attempted use the ramp as cover, and he got close enough to get a lock on her. Just as he fired the shot, the crane came to life, and moved Marie to the right side, causing the shot to miss. Marie, who had expected this, had already adjusted her aim, and took out the charger with ease. As soon as the crane finished moving, the blaster and tentatek attempted to double team her.

Marie took out the blaster first, while the tentatek attempted to create a trail on the crates that would get him in range of the crane. Before he was even halfway up, a second shot from Marie sent him back to his pad. The aerospray, knowing he had no chance, retreated back behind the ramp, and pulled out his automap to call in an ink strike. Marie made no effort to avoid the incoming missile, as the crane moved her back to the left, just before it hit. The shift of vision allowed her to lock on to the head of the last inkling, and splat him.

"That's a quad splat," she said, and made a gesture with a smirk.

"She always has to show off," said Callie, slightly annoyed. "We still got territory to ink. I'll go ink the areas we missed, so can you keep them distracted for a bit?"

"Sure thing!" Kirk responded, and they separated. The enemy team had already de-splatted, and were preparing to jump from their base platform. A burst from Kirk's mini kept them from jumping down, while Neptune guarded the rear. While this managed to buy them a precious few seconds, the tentatek suddenly pulled out an inkzooka, and splatted Kirk before he could move out of the way. This distracted Neptune enough to allow the blaster to change to Kraken form, and land on her.

The enemy team, now free of distractions, jumped down and began reclaiming territory. This was to no avail, as the ending signal sounded, and both teams were recalled to their pads. "I'm getting really tired of these Kraken forms," Neptune said, as they looked at the automaps for the results. It appeared that the time Kirk and Neptune bought Callie, was just enough for her to cover enough territory for a close victory, and the results screen confirmed this. Pink team had won.

"We did it!" The four inklings shouted in celebration. The transport system activated, and the four were sent back to the lobby.

"That was quite a match!" Callie said, excitedly. "Thanks for playing with us. You two were great!"

"R-really? I mean, you and Marie did all the work," Kirk responded.

"D'aw, no need to be modest." The Inklings walked over to the vending machines, and bought some drinks.

"By the way," Marie started. "Do you think you can hang out with us a little longer? We would like your help with something."

Callie turned to look at her. "Are you sure about that?"

"Gramps told us to find a few more, and I think they are good enough." Marie turned back to the pair. "So what do you say?"

"S-sure, I'll help you out!" Kirk said.

"I guess I'm in too," Neptune added.

"Great! Wait for us here, we'll be back in a few minutes." The squid sisters left for the studio, and Neptune turned to face Kirk.

"I have to admit, you did good today," she said.

Kirk was shocked that Neptune actually complimented him, instead of making a joke. "You mean that?" He asked.

"Of course," she responded, and leaned in with a smirk. "Did you see how happy Callie was?" All Kirk could do was look away as his face went red. "Still, I just wish I didn't get jumped by Krakens twice in a row while on T.V."

"What do you mean?" Kirk asked.

"Don't get me wrong. I love the squid sisters too, especially after meeting them." She backed away and her face was serious. "But my goal was to get recruited by a veteran team. After my last squad broke up, I haven't really found a new group I could rely on."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that, I think. I'm sure someone will notice you."

"Thanks, I guess." Their conversation was interrupted, as the squid sisters came back. They had changed their gear to the disguises and army replica weapons.

"Follow us," Marie said, as they looked around to see if they were being watched. They made their way to the pipe that leads to Octovalley. "We are still the same colors, so just follow our ink trail." Callie and Marie shifted forms, and jumped in. Kirk and Neptune looked at each other, nodded, and hopped in after them.

…

After helping Otome climb out the exit hatch, Drake checked his compass to get his bearings. "I think it's hotter today, than it was yesterday," he said, as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah, but you will eventually get used to it. That's one perk of being underground though, not having the sun beating on you," Otome responded as she retrieved her communicator from her side pack. "Otome to Kelly, do you read?" The response from the communicator was nothing but static. "Kelly, are you out there? This is Otome." Still nothing. After changing channels, she tried again.

"Otome to Commander Ophelia. I've lost contact with my team. Please acknowledge." The results were still static. Otome began frantically adjusting the communicator to try and reach someone. "I repeat, this is Corporal Otome Maroon of the Guardian Corps unit forty three. My squad is down, and Lieutenant Kelly is not responding. Someone answer me!" After several minutes of this, Otome finally gave up, and put the communicator away.

"Umm, I don't remember exactly where it was I found you, so I'll have to retrace my steps." Frustrated, Otome just nodded and followed Drake. After walking for about 10 minutes, they reached the place where the escape pod crashed. It still lay half buried in the ground, and looked to be untouched.

"I remember this," Otome said, after being silent for a while. "We stumbled upon it a few hours before the attack. What do you suppose it is?"

"It's an escape pod. One of ours," was all Drake said, as his voice trailed off. Otome noticed this, and looked over.

"Drake, are you okay?"

"It's complicated. I really don't want to talk about it." Otome just nodded in silence, though for some reason, her thoughts went to that picture of the female she saw on his data pad. "Anyway, from here, we have to head towards the city."

Otome looked at the city in the distance. 'Inkopolis, huh? I guess it was just a matter of time.' After walking a while, the two reached the ambush point. However, the sight before them absolutely stunned Drake.

"T-they're gone!" He said with a shocked tone. In the clearing before them, the corpses of the fallen Octolings had completely disappeared, but their uniforms and equipment had been left behind. "What happened to the bodies?"

"What do you mean?" Otome asked. "This is normal. Once we die, our bodies completely dissolve after a day or two. Especially on a hot day like this. Isn't it the same for you?"

"No, it takes days for the decay to start showing. Even then, the skeleton never goes away."

"Ah, right. I forgot you had bones," Otome said, as she mentally smacked herself. She went over to the gear piles, and picked up the ID tags of her teammates. Holding the tags close to her chest, she said a small prayer for them. Drake noticed the similarities to a human prayer, and looked at her. "I suppose that must have looked silly to you. Octarians are taught not to think about life after death, but I would like to think there is more to life than just killing and breeding."

"I don't think it's silly it all," Drake responded in a soft voice, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can't really say if I believe either way, but after-life or not, they deserve some respect."

"Y-yeah, thanks," she said, and looked at the tags. "Okha was quiet and aloof, but was always someone you could count on. Kira was one of the sweetest girls I've ever known. All she wanted was to end the fighting, and for both races to get along."

By this time, her soldier persona had completely broken, and she gripped the tags tightly. Drake saw several tears fall from her face. He stood there, giving Otome the time she needed while keeping his hand on her shoulder. After a few minutes, Otome straightened herself out, put the tags in her side pack, and walked over to retrieve her octoshot. Once she made sure it wasn't damaged, Otome hooked it up with her ink tank and turned back to Drake. "This whole operation seemed fishy from the get go. I swear, if I find out who set us up, there will be hell to pay! Even if it was someone from our side."

"That's a dangerous path to tread. I understand you want to see justice served, but don't let it consume you," Drake responded.

"I'll be careful. For now, can you help me look for Kelly? She might still be alive." The two spread out, and began searching the general area. Otome tried the communicator a few times, but still only got static. After an hour of searching, all they found were a few land shark corpses. "I couldn't find her gear anywhere. I know she's still out there, but I can't spare any more time," Otome said, as she kicked one of the pack hunters in anger.

"What do you mean?" Drake asked.

"If someone doesn't check in by tonight, they will assume we were killed or captured by the Inklings. If that happens, they may allow the Mariners to carry out their plans, and there will be no stopping another war. If the communicator was working, then it wouldn't be a problem. Something must be jamming the signal."

"Then what do we do?"

"I can't go back and report in person. Even IF I get back across the border, It will be too late by then. Which leaves me with only one choice." Otome turned to the city. "I'll have to go to Inkopolis, and hope I run into someone that will listen to reason."

Drake also turned to look at the city. "Well, we still got a ways to go. Shall we get a move on?"

"About that." Otome turned back to Drake, and removed her goggles. "Drake, I really appreciate what you have done for me. You saved my life, showed me a lot of interesting things, and fulfilled my lifelong dream of meeting the elder race. But I think it's time we part ways."

Drake was startled by this. "What? Why? Was it something I said?"

"N-no, of course not! But if you stay with me and things go bad, I could end up dragging you into our problems. You're whole race could get dragged in, if we go to war! I've lost enough friends as it is!"

"Which is why we need to make sure that doesn't happen. Besides, I didn't save you just to abandon you later. Like it or not, you're my responsibility until you get home."

"I-I see. Thanks, Drake," she said, and put the goggles back on. "Just don't blame me if we get splatted."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he responded. The duo began their 40 minute walk to Inkopolis.

….

After watching the Squid Sisters special match at the plaza cafe, Shara was slowly eating her cake that Levin talked her into getting. As she took another bite, she mentally kicked herself for giving in. The cake was excellent, but that was the problem. If this became a habit, she would end up gaining extra weight that would only slow her down in a turf war.

"Told you these cakes are the bomb!" Levin said, as he finished his. When he heard that Shara had never actually been to the cafe, he insisted on having cakes, and practically dragged her inside.

"Yeah, they are," Shara said begrudgingly, as she took another bite. "I just wish they weren't so pricey."

"True. Because of the prices, I haven't really been able to come here since my dad was drafted."

"What about your mom?" Asked Shara.

"Oh, well she was a cop. Since she had actual fighting experience, she ended up being one of the first ones to get called in. Been living alone for the last month," Levin responded, and took a sip of his cola.

Shara thought of responding, 'so you're just like me', but decided to change the subject. "That was quite a match, though. For a minute, I thought they were going to lose."

"Yeah, but did you see Marie's quad splat? That was awesome!"

"They aren't part of 'you know what' for nothing. Though, I wouldn't be surprised to see that crane trick be adopted by other teams."

Levin suddenly started laughing. "I'll bet you that Frost will be the first. I can just see him dragging his team out for 'emergency' practice, and forcing Citra to do that." Levin took another sip from his drink. "After he finishes watching the recording thirty times, that is."

Shara laughed a little as well. As she finished her cake, her squid phone started to ring. "Hello?" She said, not recognizing the number.

"Agent 4?" The voice said.

Shara looked around, and spoke as quietly as she could. "What is it, Agent 2?"

"Can you come to Octovalley? Gramps has something he wants to discuss with you."

"We're in the plaza now. Agent 3 is with me, and we were already planning on checking in with him. We'll be there shortly."

"Really? Thanks, Agent 4. We'll see you in a bit," she said, and the call ended. Levin followed Shara to the pipe leading to Octovalley, and the two looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. Shara switched on her ink tank, and Levin changed his color to match her.

As they exited the pipe, the pair went over to cuttlefish's shack. Callie waved as they came into view. "So what's this about?" Shara asked. "Does this have something to do with the morning news report?"

"Aye, Bucko!" Cuttlefish responded. "If that creature was an Octarian, and it's been getting inside the city, then we need to find it pronto. Although I doubt it's still in the city, since nobody has come forth with any information."

Just then, Shara heard the sound of the shack's door open and close, causing her to jump. "Wait, who else is here?"

"Ah, that would be the other thing I wanted to tell you about." Cuttlefish said, as the pair went to the other side of the shack. As she rounded the corner, she was met with the familiar face of Kirk, who had just changed into an army uniform replica. "Agent 3, Agent 4, meet 5 and 6, your new squad mates," said the old Inkling as he rested against his cane. "Though I hear you are already familiar with each other."

"Oh, hey! It's the guys from the concert! When they told us about the ordeal with Octavio, I had a feeling it was you!" He said, as he enthusiastically shook Levin and Shara's hands. "Umm, Neptune is.." They looked around, and spotted her by Octavio's prison, already in a uniform. She was making faces at the DJ, who responded with a rather rude gesture. Kirk yelled at her, and she made her way back to the group.

"So, are they the ones who are going to be training us?" She asked.

"Wait, training?" Levin and Shara looked at each other, then turned to the squid sisters.

"We figured that they would be better off working with you," Marie said. "They have plenty of turf war experience, but you two have actual field work under your belts."

Cuttlefish thought for a minute. "Right, so we don't we pair 3 with 6, and 5 can go with 4."

Neptune turned to Levin, and put on her puppy dog eyes. "Are you going to teach me something good, big brother?"

"Wha? What?" Was all Levin could get out, as he stumbled and tried to hide his red face.

"NEPTUNE!" Kirk yelled. She stuck out her tongue, and took off running. Shara watched Kirk try to catch her, but she was too fast for him. "Enough with your stupid jokes!" He yelled, as they did a lap around the shack. Cuttlefish sighed, and slammed his cane down.

"AGENTS! ATTENTION!" Both Inklings came to a crashing halt, and stood up. Since Levin and Shara had already experienced this, they simply stood in silence.

"Careful gramps, you could rupture a-" A sharp glance from Cuttlefish shut Callie up before she could finish.

"Now then. Your objective is to find out any information you can about the strange creature. 3 and 6, I want you two to check the city. Find out if any one saw anything."

"You got it," Levin said, as he and Neptune changed colors, and left for Inkopolis via the pipe.

"As for the rest of you, I want you to check the area surrounding the city. I found a transport kettle that will take you to the nearby forest," Cuttlefish said, as he marked the kettle on their automaps.

"Do you think the creature used the kettle to get into the city?" Shara asked.

"I don't think so. I would have seen it if that was the case. But it will be a good starting point, and you can use it to get back here quick if things get bad. Which reminds me, If you see any Octarians, try not to engage. Remember you have rookies with you." Cuttlefish paused for a moment. "That goes for you too," he said over the communicator.

"Don't worry. Big brother won't let anything happen!" Neptune responded, and Shara swore that she heard Levin fall, and Kirk facepalm. Shara rolled her eyes, and Callie motioned the group to follow her.

"Shall we get to work?"

After changing colors to match each other, the group hopped into the kettle, and were shot to Inkopolis forest. Upon exiting, Shara helped Kirk stay on his feat, as he was clearly dazed. "When did they find the time to dig these tunnels so close to the city?" She asked.

"No idea, but we destroyed the tunnels that lead to Kelp Dome and the old skate park," Marie responded. "We should probably close this one off too, at some point."

Callie looked around. They were just outside the city walls. "We can probably cover more ground if we split up. Call us on the communicator if you find anything."

Shara nodded in response, and the two agents went their own way. She turned to Kirk. "Are you okay to walk?"

"Yeah, I'm okay now. That was quite a ride."

"Don't worry about it. Levin and I, were like that the first time we used one." Shara started walking ahead, while Kirk watched her back, splatling at the ready. After searching the forest for a while, Marie's voice could be heard on their communicator head sets.

"We haven't seen anything on our end. How does it look for you?"

"Nothing here," Shara responded. "I think that maybe we should-" her voice trailed off, as she noticed movement in the trees.

"I didn't catch that. Agent 4, what's going on?"

"Something is moving. I can't quite tell- shit! Octotrooper!" Shara dove down to avoid being spotted.

"We're on our way! Stay- " The communicator suddenly went silent, and only static could be heard. The assault platform was putting distance between them, and Shara didn't have time to worry about the static.

"Kirk, we need to follow him, but stay out of sight!" She said, but Kirk didn't respond.

"Hey, you hear me?" She turned back to see why he didn't respond, but the answer was immediately apparent. Kirk had completely disappeared.


	12. 2.3 – Boiling Point

An octoshot bash to the head can be a rather painful experience, and the throbbing in Kirk's head seemed to confirm this. As he regained consciousness, he noticed that he was being dragged through the forest. There were two Twintacles following as a rear guard, and they noticed that he was awake.

"Hey, Sarge! The Inkling is awake!" One of them shouted.

"Already?" A female voice responded. "I guess this is far enough. You lot, spread out and keep watch!"

Suddenly, Kirk was lifted up, and his back was slammed into a tree. Before he even had time to say 'ouch', his arms and legs were bound to the tree by a strange cord. When she finished, the dark tentacled Octoling stood up, removed her goggles, and looked Kirk in the eye. "Hi there, lil' squid! Whatcha doing outside your safe zone?" Her yellow eyes were cold, and she wore a sadistic smile on her face. Terrified, Kirk tried to change to squid form, which would free him from his bindings. As he shifted, a shock coursed through his body, which canceled the transformation. The Octoling just laughed at this. "That's a no-no, squiddy. Can't have you leaving just yet. But if you want to keep trying, I wouldn't mind watching for a while."

Kirk stopped struggling, and stared at the Octoling, while trying not to let his terror show. "W-what is this? What did you do to me?" He asked.

"Oh, this? Just a little toy we call the eel. The wimps in the Guardian Corps built it for policing purposes, but I think the Mariners found a much more practical use for it." The Octoling turned away, and went to talk with one of the Twintacles. Kirk desperately looked for a way out of his predicament, but could see none. "Don't bother looking for your friend," said the Octoling, as she came back over. "The Ninja Octos know how to cover their tracks, and one of my boys is already leading her to a few well placed ink mines."

"W-what do you want with me?" Kirk responded.

"We just want to play a little game. I'm going to ask you some questions. If you answer them to my satisfaction, then maybe, I SAID MAYBE, I'll think about letting you go. If you don't, then I win, and we move on to a new game that you probably won't like." This scared Kirk even more, as he saw one of the Twintacles shudder in fear.

"First question. Where is that coward from Guardian Corps?"

Kirk looked at her with a puzzled expression. "The what?"

"Don't play dumb with me! We know one of those traitors is still running around here, and I know that her mission was to make contact with you. I see no other reason why an army brat would be wandering around the forest."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, and I'm not in the army!"

"Now you're just fibbing. I know an Inkling army uniform when I see it." Her smile became even more sadistic. "After all, I have one as a trophy." Kirk's eyes widened.

"W-wait! I'm only fifteen, and I'm part of a volunteer group! Our job had nothing to do with what you are talking about!" The Octoling moved her face in, and seemed to gaze directly into Kirk's mind.

"Looks like you really don't know." The Octoling sighed, as she backed up. "Alright, next question. What was your mission?"

"W-we just came here to investigate a new breed of Octarian." The Octoling just stared with a blank expression.

"...What..?" Was all she got out.

"Y-yeah, somebody saw it last night! It was in the city, and-"

"Enough!" She yelled, and made a gesture for him to stop. "Kid, I don't know what you think you saw, but I'm not interested in your wild guppy chase." She turned away and muttered something along the lines of "Are all Inklings this ridiculous?" After a few minutes, she recomposed herself, and turned back.

"Last question. You'd better have an answer for this one, because I don't like time wasters."

She took several steps forward, and Kirk winced. "Y-yes?"

"Where is General Octavio?"

Kirk's eyes widened, and he bit his lower lip. "I- I don't know!"

The sadistic smile returned to the Octolings face. "Yes, you do. You just don't want to tell me." She pulled out her combat knife, and held it in front of her.

'Crap!' He thought to himself. 'She saw right through me!' His face started to sweat. "N-no! I- I really don't-"

"Think real hard about what you say next," the Octoling said, as she pressed the blunt side of the knife against Kirk's neck. "Otherwise, we are going to move on to that other game I mentioned."

…

"They're Mariners alright," Otome said, as both her and Drake watched the exchange from behind a bush. "That's Sargent Carmine. She's been on our wanted list for almost a year."

"How do you want to handle this?" Drake asked as he lined up the sights of his rifle with one of the Octarians.

"We don't really have much of a choice," Otome responded. "That boy may be our ticket inside the city. Besides, I'm not real big on this torture crap. Damned Mariners don't get that this will only make things worse for us!" Otome took a capsule out of her side pack, and dropped it into her ink tank. The ink changed to a much darker shade of purple.

"What was that?"

"That cord isn't the only trick the Guardian Corps has up its sleeve. Ink is ineffective against targets of the same color, and Octarians can only use purple. Changing to a different shade will allow my ink to harm them. Otherwise, I would have to fight with my knife. Though, it won't be as effective as a completely different color." The pair turned back to the Octarians. "Drake, I'll deal with Carmine. Can you get the Twintacles?"

"Affirmative. If I fire at her from here, I might hit the Inkling, anyway."

"Alright. Don't shoot until I get her distracted."

Drake nodded in response. "Otome, be careful." Otome gave him a thumbs up, and moved to another bush on the Octoling's flank. As Carmine pressed the bladed edge of her knife against the Inklings neck, Otome lobbed a splat bomb at her. Seeing this out of the corner of her eye, the Octoling took a swing at it with her weapon, and knocked it in the other direction.

"I saw that!" She roared, and turned in Otome's direction. "Come out of there, Inkling scum!"

"Hey! Help me!" The Inkling yelled.

As the Twintacles turned their attention to Otome, several loud cracks were heard, and the Twintacle nearest her dropped dead. The remaining Octarians turned their assault platforms in the direction the shots came from. "Sarge!" One of them yelled.

"Shut up, and deal with it!" The Octoling responded. Several more cracks, and another Twintacle fell dead. The remaining two fired on Drake's position, and he took cover behind a tree.

"That's two!" Otome said, as she revealed herself. Carmine looked ecstatic.

"Well, what do we have here? If it isn't the coward from the Guardian Corps. I'll get quite a bonus for bringing you in. Maybe even a promotion!"

Otome pointed her Octoshot at her. "Sargent Carmine, drop your weapons and surrender!"

Carmine just laughed in response. "You know you can't hurt me with that."

"Don't be so sure," Otome said, and fired several shots. The smile was instantly wiped from her face, as the tampered ink hit her. After taking several hits, she rolled out of the way.

"What the hell did you do?!" She yelled. Another burst of gunshots, and the third Twintacle dropped.

"Just a little insurance policy us 'weaklings' came up with, in case you Mariner meat heads started something like this."

With out responding, Carmine threw a splat bomb of her own. While this would have been ineffective against Otome, she dove away out of reflex. This was exactly what Carmine wanted. She readied her knife, and charged at Otome while she was still staggered. Otome tried to ready her Octoshot, but Carmine knocked it out of her hand, and kicked her backwards. As Otome fell, she tried to pull out her own knife, only to discover that it had disappeared.

"What's wrong? Did your precious Inkling lover friends cheap out on knives?" A fourth set of cracks signaled that the last Twintacle was down.

Sargent Carmine mounted Otome, and plunged her knife down to her neck. 'Drake, where are you?' Otome thought, as she grabbed the dark tentacled Octolings hands in an effort to resist. The knife drew closer and closer to her neck, until a single shot was heard, and Otome could see the projectile hit Carmine in the shoulder. While she was clearly in pain, it didn't seem to affect her too much, as she was still putting pressure on the knife.

"STOP RIGHT THERE! GET OFF OF HER RIGHT NOW!" Drake yelled. The Octoling just ignored him. It was clear that she knew she was finished, but was determined to take Otome with her. The knife was less than an inch away from piercing her skin, when another shot was fired. This time he aimed for the head, and she jerked once, then went limp. Otome kicked the dead Octoling off her.

"Sorry that took so long. Are you alright?" Drake asked while helping her up.

"I think so," she responded. "Guess, that's two I owe you." Otome picked up Carmine's knife, and they made their way to where the Inkling was tied up. As they approached, his eyes lit up.

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought I was a goner until-" His voice trailed off, when he realized that one of them was an Octoling. "O-oh no... More of them. A-are you here to kill me too?"

"Calm down!" Otome snapped. "If we were here to hurt you, then why would we attack them?"

"R-really? You're going to help me?" He said with a sigh of relief.

"Really. Now hold still so I can cut these cords." Otome was about to cut one of the cords with the knife, when Drake saw a laser sight aimed right at Otome's head.

…

"I told you, I don't know anything about it!" Levin put Marie's sketch back in his gear pack. He and Neptune had been asking around the plaza about the unknown creature, but the answer was always the same. "If you want to impersonate a soldier, do it somewhere else!" The Inkling he had been questioning stormed off, and Levin sighed. 'I wonder if Callie was just seeing things after all.'

At that time, Neptune came out of Ammo Knights, and walked over. "None of the shop keepers saw anything," she said. "But someone on the third floor, said they heard noises from the roof yesterday."

Levin had expected Neptune to play around, but now that she was on the clock, she took her role as an Agent seriously. "That isn't really much of a lead," Levin responded.

"No kidding. I was hoping this job would be interesting, but it's been nothing but a waste of-"

Just then, Cuttlefish's voice was heard on the communicator. "Agent 3, Agent 6, are you there?" He said, sounding rather panicked.

"We're here," Neptune responded. "We haven't found a damn thing on our end."

"Never mind that! I need you two to get back to Octovalley, pronto! I've lost contact with the others."

Levin and Neptune exchanged glances. "We're on our way," Levin said. The two were about to hop into the pipe, when a group of turfers came out of the transport lobby, and started to loiter, while talking about their last match.

"Dammit!" Levin said. "They'll see us if we leave now. We'll have to wait until those idiots find a new hang out spot."

Neptune shrugged and went over to the vending machine. She put on her 'puppy dog' eyes and turned back to Levin. "Buy me a drink, big brother?"

'So much for taking the seriously,' he thought to himself, and bought a pair of colas.

...

"Look out!" Drake yelled, and shoved Otome out of the way. No sooner than her head cleared the laser dot, a line of ink that was moving almost as fast as a bullet, narrowly missed her, and hit the Inkling boy. Since it was the same color, it had no harmful effects, but it did cause him to cough up ink. Otome and Drake, whipped around and raised their weapons. A figure wearing a green outfit that covered most of it's body was perched in a tree.

"Hold your fire!" Otome yelled, but the sniper just lined up the laser for another shot.

"N-no, wait! D-don't!" The boy managed to get out. Unfortunately, his warnings came too late, and the sniper got off another shot. Otome dove to avoid the shot, and Drake fired a single round at the sniper. The bullet hit it in the shoulder, causing it to fall out the tree with a scream. As it fell, Drake noticed the milky tentacles.

"Oh, hell..." He said. "I think that was an Inkling. Well, there goes any chance of preventing a war. Otome, I think we should-"

"How dare you do that to my cousin, Octarian!" Instead of Otome, another Inkling in a pink outfit was standing near Drake, and was holding a giant roller above its head. Before Drake could react, it slammed the roller down, and Drake's upper body was completely covered with ink.

"G-guys! Stop it!" The boy yelled.

"W-what? That should have splatted you five times over!" Drake tried to wipe the ink off his tactical goggles, but his body was having trouble listening to him, and he could barely keep a grip on his rifle. When he finally cleared enough ink, he looked at the Inkling, who in turn was looking at him with a confused expression.

"Alright, that's enough! Freeze, Octarian!" Both Drake and the Inkling turned to the voice, and he saw Otome being held by a second Inkling. "Both of you, drop your weapons!" Drake let go of his rifle, and the inkling in the pink outfit picked it up. Otome, on the other hand, merely attached her Octoshot to the ink tank. "I said drop it!"

"Let it go, Agent 4. They aren't going to fight anymore." The four looked over, and the Inkling in green walked up like nothing happened.

"Marie!" Yelled the pink one.

"Agent 1! Did you forget that we are-"

"Who cares about the stupid code names?! You're okay!" The pink one rushed over to the one called Marie, and embraced her.

"Okay, okay!" Marie said in response. "I'm sorry I worried you, Callie."

"Um... Is someone going to untie me?" The boy asked.

"Just change to your squid form," the third Inkling responded.

"He can't," said Otome. "That's called an eel, and it prevents form changing."

"Shut it, Octoling!" Agent 4 said, as she pointed her splattershot pro at Otome.

"Let her speak," said Marie, though Agent 4 didn't lower her weapon. "How do we get him out?"

"Like this." Otome drew the combat knife and Agent 4 fired a shot at her feat.

"Shara, stop!" The boy yelled. "It's okay! They saved me!"

"Then why did she try to stab you?" Callie asked.

"She was trying to cut me down! The others were going to kill me... and..." The other inklings looked around at the dead Octarians.

"I thought you and Shara did that, and they were going to execute you for it," Marie said, and looked at Otome and Drake. "You mean they did this?" The two just nodded in response.

"Wait, so the Octarians are fighting each other now?" Asked Callie with a confused look.

"Something like that," Otome responded. "May I continue?" The Inklings nodded in response, and Otome began cutting the boy loose. While she worked, Drake walked up to Marie.

"Excuse me, uh, Marie, was it?" Callie and Shara raised their weapons again. "Relax. I just want to look at her shoulder wound." Marie nodded and exposed the part of her shoulder that had been shot. "Wait... what the... how?" Her shoulder was almost completely spotless. In fact, the bullet appeared to have done more damage to her outfit.

"I was wondering why it stopped hurting after a few minutes," Marie said. Drake looked over at the dead Octoling.

"So that explains why that first shot didn't seem to affect her. But I wonder why the Troopers went down with out having to aim for the head."

"I hate to say it, but the Octarian regulars are kinda weak," Otome said, as she finished cutting the boy free of the eel. Free of the bonds, he stretched out, then turned to Otome and Drake, and bowed.

"My name is Kirk. Thank you for saving me." He stuck his hand out and shook hands with Drake, While Otome just responded with "Don't mention it". "Huh? It's warm?" Kirk said, surprised.

"Don't thank Octarians," Shara muttered.

"So, mind telling us what you were doing so far into our territory?" Marie asked.

"Wait, shouldn't we take them to gramps?" Callie said.

"Yeah, your right. Alright you two, follow me and don't try anything." Marie lead the group to the transport kettle that would take them back to Octovalley. "Kirk and I will go first. You two are after us." Kirk and Marie changed to their squid forms, and jumped in. The transport kettle activated, and shot them to Octovalley. Drake looked at Otome.

"What now? I can't do that," he whispered.

"Yeah, this could be a problem." Otome walked over to the kettle, and opened the outer hatch to make the entrance wider.

"What are you doing? Hurry up already!" Said the annoyed voice of Shara.

Otome motioned for Drake to come over to her. When he reached her, Otome changed forms. As she jumped, she reached one of her tentacles out, and grabbed onto Drake, pulling him in. The kettle activated, and shot the pair down the tunnel at high speed. The lubrication provided by Otome's ink trail kept this from being a painful experience. It might have even been fun, if Drake hadn't been scared out of his wits.

After about a minute, they reached the other end, and came to a stop. Otome opened the hatch, and helped Drake climb out of the Kettle. He was clearly dazed, and shaking quite badly. "W-what...the hell.. was that?" Was all he managed to get out. After another minute, Drake calmed down some, and the last two Inklings climbed out of the kettle.

"Get moving, you two!" Shara yelled.

"Come on, Shara. There's no need to yell," Callie said.

"Callie, not you too! Look, just go over there." Shara pointed to where Marie and Kirk were standing, and the group started to head over. As they approached, the old Inkling, who was standing between them, looked them over.

"Are these the two you were telling me about?" He asked, and the other two nodded. He turned back to Drake and Otome, still sizing them up. "I understand that you two saved Agent 5 here. Is this true?" The pair nodded in response. "Well, my name is Cuttlefish, leader of the Squidbeak agents. I assume you have a reason for your actions, and I do have questions for you. But first..." Cuttlefish turned away, and walked to the side of his shack. He leaned against it, and used the shack to support him as he raised his cane. He then removed the tip, revealing it to be an early model bamboozler, and he pointed it at Drake.

"Now then, what are you?"

Instead of verbally responding, Drake removed his helmet and goggles, exposing both his hair, and his mark-less eyes. Cuttlefish's eyes widened, and he almost fell over. Marie rushed over to support him. "I-I don't believe it! T-this isn't possible! They're supposed to be dead!"

"What is it gramps? Callie asked, as Marie held him up.

"It's not possible... it just isn't." After rambling for a few minutes, Cuttlefish calmed down, and recomposed himself. He slowly walked over, and looked Drake and Otome over again. "I'll talk to them separately. Young man, there's a shower inside my shack. Clean yourself up, while I talk to the Octoling. I'll come get you when I'm ready for you." Drake looked over at Otome, who nodded at him.

"Thank you," he said, and entered the shack.

Before Cuttlefish could start questioning the Octoling, A voice from behind interrupted them. "Who was that?"

"Where have you been, Bucko!" Cuttlefish said, as Levin and Neptune approached.

"We got caught up in traffic," Neptune said, much to Levin's irritation. "Is that an Octoling? What's going on?"

"I'll fill them in," Marie said. As she brought the agents up to speed, cuttlefish turned back to the Octoling.

"Now then, what were you doing..."

"Corporal Otome Maroon of the Guardian Corps unit forty three."

"I-I see. Well Otome, why don't you tell me..."

"Corporal Otome Maroon of the Guardian Corps unit forty three," she repeated. "That's all I'm saying as long as I'm being held prisoner."

"Otome, you aren't a prisoner. You fought your own kind to save the lad, and we appreciate that. Even if some of us don't properly show it." He glanced sharply at Shara who lowered her weapon and turned away. "If anything, you're my guest. I just want you to talk to me."

"Fine. What do you want to know first?" She responded.

"Let's start with why an Octoling would fight her own kind for an enemy of her people."

"I guess saying it was the right thing to do won't fly. The Octarians we fought were part of a group called the Mariners. They're followers of General Octa-" At that moment, Otome noticed the sphere containing the DJ. "I don't believe it!" Otome said, as she ran over to it.

"Oh, great," Octavio said. "Now I gotta deal with a Guardian Corps sissy."

"Well, well. If it isn't fearless leader. What's the matter? Inkling got your tentacle?" Otome responded, bearing her fangs.

"No thanks to you piss ants! If you and that coward Octurus, hadn't wimped out on me, we would have Inkopolis to our selves by now!"

"And if you had half a brain, you would realize how stupid you sound! You're just going to get us all killed! Just look at you! You're trapped in a giant bubble."

"Ha! I aint done yet. You mark my words on that, yah little hipster!"

"I take it you guys aren't friends," Cuttlefish said.

"Are you kidding? They're even worse than you are!" Octavio responded, and turned away. Cuttlefish lead Otome back to the front of the shack, and asked her to fill the group in. Otome explained the political situation in Octoburg, and how the Guardian Corps was trying to prevent the great turf war from reigniting.

"See? I told you they aren't all bad," Levin said while poking Shara.

"Yeah, yeah. You made you're point," she responded.

"I see," Cuttlefish said, while thinking. "Next, tell me what you were doing outside the city?"

"My mission was to make contact with the Inklings in regards to the missing zapfish. While en route, we were ambushed by a pack of land sharks, and I lost my team." Otome's expression was pained and her fists clenched. "Two of my friends are dead, and another is missing. That's what it cost me to get to you!"

"I'm sorry about your team. You have my word that we also want to prevent a war. In fact, we kept what happened with Octavio a secret from our government to prevent them from taking any reckless actions." The other Inklings nodded in agreement.

"Yeah! We won't let those jerks interrupt our game time!" Callie shouted.

Otome looked at Octavio again. "But if you have him, I guess the zapfish isn't an issue anymore."

"We recovered it along with Octavio. Now, I have one more question. Are you aware that you are traveling with an elder race survivor?" The look on every Inkling's face changed to one of shock, with the exception of one.

"What's an elder race?"

"Levin, did you pay attention to history at all?" Shara said. "The elder race were the ones that walked the planet before us. The people we got our technology from."

"His name is Drake, and they prefer to be called humans," Otome added. "I owe him a lot, so if anything happens to him, I'll make the great turf war look like a minor annoyance!"

"I have no intention of harming him," Cuttlefish responded. "Just seeing one alive is a miracle. Think of what we can learn."

Levin finally figured out what was going on. "Oh, those guy- wait, weren't they extinct?"

"Yes, Levin... That's why everybody is so shocked right now..." Shara responded with a sigh. But there was one among them, who was more rattled than the rest.

"Oh no... Ohnonononono!"

"Callie, what's wrong?" Marie asked her younger cousin.

"Didn't you hear? That guy was an elder race man. And we attacked him!" Callie responded.

"Calm down, Callie! It was just a misunderstanding."

"But I-I almost killed him! And I...I..." Callie turned towards the shack. "I have to apologize."

"Callie, wait!" Before Marie could stop her, Callie ran towards the shack, and practically broke down the door to get in.

"Dear me," Cuttlefish said with a sigh. "It's just one thing after another today."


	13. 2.4 – Fossils and Tentacles

The warm water was a soothing sensation for Drake, as he cleaned the sweat and grime off his body. Though, the ink that the pink clothed Inkling had sprayed him with had already dissolved by the time he got in the shower. "This isn't how I expected to make contact," he said to himself. "Mclarrin is really going to let me have it when I get back. IF I get back." He shut the water off, and started to dry himself.

The inside of the old Inkling's shack was larger than it appeared from the outside. From the door, there was a small entry way that lead to a kitchen and dining area. On the far side, there were two doors. The first lead to a bedroom, and Drake noticed the old looking television, complete with rabbit ear antenna. The door that faced the kitchen, was the bathroom that Drake currently occupied.

As he finished drying himself, he put on his underwear and the lower half of his uniform. Before changing back into the top half of his uniform, he opened the door to let the air circulate. Suddenly, he heard a loud crash that was accompanied by an "EEP!" Which Drake understood even with out the autotran in place. Startled, Drake quickly grabbed his handgun, and turned towards the entryway.

The Inkling wearing pink was half hidden in the entryway, while her top half peaked out, and she stared at Drake with a red face. Remembering that he was still half naked, he closed the door, placed the handgun back in its holster, and put on the rest of his uniform and equipment, say for the helmet that he left outside.

The pink clothed Inkling was still standing in the entryway when Drake came out of the bathroom. Unsure what to do, he took a seat at the table. "So... um," was all he was able to get out. The Inkling said nothing in response, and continued to stare. The situation had become very awkward, to say the least. Drake turned on his data pad, and started working on his expeditionary journal. After a few minutes, he could hear footsteps slowly approach him. As soon as he looked up, the Inkling ran back to the entryway.

"I, uh, I won't hurt you," Drake said, thinking that she was afraid of him because of how he had shot the green one. After a few more minutes, he heard the Inkling approach him again. He waited until she was right in front of him to look at her. While she didn't retreat this time, her bright red face was pointed downwards.

"I... uh... I mean..." Otome's description made the Inklings sound aggressive, or even violent, yet this girl was clearly afraid, "...okay?" She got out.

"Uh, Sorry. I didn't get that," Drake responded.

"A-are... you... okay?" She said again, while trying to keep herself from shaking.

"Oh, I'm okay. The stuff you sprayed me with made me feel strange, but I think it's completely worn off." The Inkling didn't respond. "Um, you don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not going to hurt you, and I'm really sorry I shot-"

Suddenly, the Inkling jumped forward, and put her arms around him. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't know! We thought you were trying to kill Kirk, and...and.."

Drake, stunned and somewhat confused, put his hand on her shoulders. "H-hey, it's okay! It was a misunderstanding. I'm not mad. See?" Drake forced a smile, as the girl looked at him.

"R-really? You'll forgive me?"

"Really. We all jumped to conclusions. I was just trying to protect Otome, and I thought the sniper was another Mariner." Her face lit up under her hat and sun glasses.

"T-thank you! I was so afraid that you would hate me!" She said, and hugged him again. After a few minutes, she pulled away and removed her head gear, exposing her black eye marks and the top part of her black tentacles. While his first thoughts were how pretty she was, she was also familiar in a way that Drake couldn't place.

"M-my name is Callie. I-I'm an Inkling," she said.

"Drake Von Kaufmann. The human," He replied, and the two shook hands. Her reaction was similar to Kirk's, when she felt his warm hand. She also reacted the same way as Otome when she touched his hair, and when he touched her Tentacle, though it had a smoother feel than the Octoling's. Drake was surprised at how quickly Callie's fear disappeared.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to meet an elder ra- erm, human! How did you survive all this time? What was it like back then? Oh! Do you have any video games?"

"Whoa! Slow down there. One at a time," Drake said.

"Oops! Sorry, but this is just so... fresh!"

Drake chuckled a little. "Don't worry about it. Otome was the same way when we first met."

"Oh, yeah. Why are you traveling with an Octoling?" Callie looked genuinely puzzled at this.

"I get the feeling that the old guy is going to ask me that. Let's just save that for later," Drake responded.

"Okay, then how do you know how to speak Oceanic?"

Drake was confused for a second, but then realized what she had meant. "I don't," he responded.

"Huh? Then how can you understand me?"

Drake pointed to the device in his ear. "It's called the auto translator. A device created by my father. I don't know the science behind it, but it can completely change an incoming sound wave to a language I can understand. Likewise, the part under my throat will change anything I say to your language, even if you don't have an autotran."

"I don't really get it, but that's amazing! Your dad must have been really smart!"

"I hate to say it, but the man is a genius. Anyway, the autotran isn't perfect. It's range is limited and it won't work over electronic devices. Plus, it took time for it to get an understanding of your language. It was a while before Otome could understand me."

"I-I see. Oh! What's that thing you were staring at? It looks like our squid phones!" Callie said, trying to contain her excitement.

"My data pad? I guess it is a little similar to a smart phone. I can do a variety of things, such as taking pictures or performing calculations." Drake then smirked. "You mentioned video games? It can do those to. I heard from my dad that Otome had gotten quite into one of them."

Callie laughed at this. "That's hilarious! I just can't picture an Octoling playing video games."

"Anyway, I was working on my expedition log. It's for the others to-" Drake immediately realized what he was about to say, and shut up.

Callie's eyes widened. "Wait, there are more of you?!"

'Shit. You did it again, Von Kaufmann,' Drake thought. "Well... um.."

"Looks like you two are having fun." The Inkling in green was standing in the entryway.

"M-Marie? How long have you been standing there?" Said Callie, in a panic.

"Oh, around the time you ran from him," she replied with a smirk. "That's quite an accomplishment, Human. I haven't seen Callie get shy since we were kids."

"You shut up, Marie!" Callie yelled. "What did you come here for, anyway?"

"What? Did you want the human to yourself?" Callie just stuck her tongue out. "Anyway, gramps wants to talk to him."

Before exiting the shack, Drake walked up to Marie. "Um..."

"Marie. I heard the Octoling say your name was Drake."

"Y-yeah, and um.." Drake hesitated for a moment, then bowed. "I'm really sorry for hurting you."

"F-forget about it. You two already made up, and I won't hold a grudge either," Marie said, and turned to the door. Drake heard Callie snicker, and the two followed Marie out of the shack.

…

Back at the Eden facility control room, Reggie was trying to fix one of the consoles, while Brandon and Matt assisted him. He was lying on his back, while working on the machine's underside.

"It's a good thing we had all these spare parts," Brandon said. "Seems like something is crapping out almost every day, now."

"Yeah, but shouldn't this be the tech's job?" Matt replied. "Why is the security force covering their slack?"

"That's because I know my way around a computer," said Reggie with a muffled voice. "Unlike Takeshi, my nerd hobbies are actually useful."

Brandon couldn't help but laugh at this. "That's true, but it still beats having to deal with that crowd. I really hope Drake comes back with some answers this time, otherwise we may have a riot on our hands."

At that moment, the door opened, and Takeshi walked in. "Speaking of Takeshi," Matt said, and pointed. "Look who decided to finally show up."

"Sorry, sorry!" Takeshi said. "I got called in to break up a fight. Some idiots decided to have a pissing contest in the rec room." Takeshi looked around the control room. "Where's Drake? Haven't seen him today."

Brandon sighed. "He already left for the surface. You would know these things if you would wake up on time."

"What? Again? Wait, did he take the girl with him?"

"Yes, Takeshi. This is what happens when you oversleep."

"Man! I wanted to talk to her!" After complaining for several minutes, Takeshi turned towards Reggie. "So what are you guys doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing!" Reggie yelled from under the console. "I think I just about got it, though."

"Let's see how you did."

"No! WIAT!" Reggie's warning came too late, and Takeshi hit the power switch. Since the repair was incomplete, the power supply and several component parts, sparked and burst in Reggie's face. Matt quickly pulled him out. His face was completely black, and his hair stood on end.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"I-I th-think s-so," said Reggie between coughs. He turned and glared at Takeshi. "That's about an hours worth of work ruined. Good one, Takeshi."

"I think you should have Justin take a look at that," said Brandon.

"Yeah, probably. I'll tell him to expect a dead Japanese guy," Reggie responded, as he turned to leave.

"Sorry!" Takeshi yelled, and Reggie responded by giving him the bird. After cleaning up the mess, the team was about to leave, when Commander Mclarrin stormed in.

"You there! Where is that damn security chief?"

"Didn't he tell you?" Brandon asked.

"I wouldn't be asking if that was the case, would I?" Mclarrin snapped back.

"He left for the surface with the life form."

"Are you kidding me? Does anyone bother to tell me anything?" Mclarrin shook her head in frustration. "Well, if he gets locked out tonight, it's his own fault."

"What do you mean?" The three guards looked at her in confusion.

"I know about how Drake returned after midnight. I won't have people coming and going during the night shift, so I'm locking the facility down at nightfall. If he is still out there, he'd better have brought a tent." Mclarrin stormed off before the squad could protest.

"That's in two hours! What do we do?" Brandon said.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Takeshi responded. "Let's go to the motor pool. I know the vehicles are still out of commission, but they may have something else we can use. Follow me!" The team left the control room, and ran for the garage.

…

The sun was begging to set, as Drake answered the old Inklings questions. The others listened with interest while Drake told them about the cryo sleep. "So you say you have been frozen all this time?" Cuttlefish asked, still having trouble processing the fact that a human was standing before him.

"If not for the Cryogenic pods, we wouldn't be here now," Drake responded. "Though, I'm not sure we belong on this planet anymore."

"That's not true!" Callie yelled.

"Yeah, we owe your race a lot for the technology you provided us with," Marie chimed in. "Where would Callie be with out her video games," she added with a smirk.

"Well, it's too early to think about that. I don't think the Inklings are ready to find out that a race we thought long dead has come back from the grave," said Cuttlefish. Drake thought on this for a moment.

"That's understandable. A lot of my people were really confused and on edge when they first saw Otome. Hell, I was a little freaked out myself."

"That reminds me, how does a human end up traveling with an Octoling?" Asked Cuttlefish. Drake and Otome, looked at each other.

"He saved my life," Otome answered, as she removed her goggles. "I told you about the pack hunter ambush. If he hadn't found me and took me in, I would have died from my injuries, if the Land sharks didn't finish me off first. After I recovered, Drake offered to help me salvage my mission."

"I see. And now that you have found us, what now?"

Shara, who had been silent, spoke up. "It's obviously to trick us! She is trying to take advantage of the human!"

"Silence, Agent 4!" Cuttlefish snapped. "While I don't fully trust them either, you will treat them with courtesy! They didn't have to save Agent 5." Shara looked away, and went silent again.

"You'll have to forgive her," said Levin. "She isn't always this way." Shara just responded with a "humpf".

"I have to get in touch with my commanding officer before night falls. Otherwise, they may presume we were betrayed by the Inklings that were supposed to meet us. This wouldn't be a problem if I could use my communicator."

"We were having problems with that too," Marie said. "I thought you were behind that."

"It's probably a jamming device set up by the Mariners. Isn't that right, General?" Otome shouted loud enough for Octavio to hear.

"Why are you asking me? Figure it out yourself, squirt!" He boomed.

"Then what do we- OH! We can use the broadcast studio!" Callie said, excitedly.

"Good idea," Cuttlefish responded. Before he could say anything else, Neptune spoke up.

"Excuse me, but I've been wondering what this is," she said, holding Drake's rifle.

"Ah! Be careful with that!" Drake said, taking the rifle from her. "Very dangerous."

"Don't treat me like a kid!" Neptune responded, sticking her tongue out. "I know how to fight too, you know!"

"This coming from the most childish one here," Kirk said, rolling his eyes. "But I'm also curious how that thing works."

"Maybe it would be better to just show you. May I?" The Inklings responded with a nod, and Otome covered her ears. Drake looked around for a target, and spotted a crabby cake box sitting on a post. He lined up the sights, and pulled the trigger. With a loud crack that made the Inklings all jump, the rifle discharged a shot, and the box was knocked off the post, which bounced off Octavio's prison.

"Hey! Watch it, Bonehead!" Octavio yelled while cursing at them.

"Wow! That was awesome!" Levin said, excitedly. "Can I try it?"

"No, me first!" Neptune yelled.

"Before you go blasting any more of my dinner," Cuttlefish said, tapping is cane. "Don't you have a war to prevent?"

"Ah, right. Follow me guys!" Callie said, and the group started making their way to the pipe, while Drake put his headgear back on. Before joining her, Shara walked up to him, and tapped on his arm.

"I still don't trust you," she said, in a low voice. "But I do apologize for the insults. I just don't want to see any more of my friends get hurt."

"It isn't me you should apologize to," Drake said, turning towards Otome.

"I don't want or need it," she said with a shrug. "I don't like you any more than you like me. I'm only doing this to keep my fellow Octarians safe. Might I suggest we stick to professional courtesy?"

"I can respect that," Shara responded, and the three caught up to the rest of the Inklings at the pipe that leads to Inkopolis. Before anyone could say anything, an object flew over them at high speed. The Inklings, thinking it was an Octarian robot, turned their weapons on it.

"What is that!" Kirk yelled.

"Hold your fire! It's one of our drones!" Drake responded. His radio lit up as he received an incoming call.

"There you are! We've been trying to get in contact with you for the last hour!" Drake heard Brandon say.

"Sorry, there's something out there jamming my signal," he responded. "I'm surprised the drone is still able to relay the signal. Actually, when did the drone systems get repaired?"

"Never mind that! Where are you!"

"I'm just outside the city."

"You need to get back here, right now! Commander Mclarrin is locking down the facility in an hour. You don't want to spend the night outside."

Drake looked over at Otome and the Inklings before responding. "I can't do that."

"What? Are you crazy, Drake?"

"Just get that thing out of here! You're drawing attention to us! I'll try to contact you as soon as I can."

"U-Understood. Be careful," Brandon said, and the drone flew back towards Eden.

"What was that about?" Otome asked, and Drake repeated the conversation. "Are you sure? You can still make it if you leave now."

"We have more important things to worry about. Besides, I already told you I'm staying." Otome nodded in response.

"Got any more surprises for us?" Shara asked.

"Not as far as I know," Drake responded, and the group turned their attention back to the pipe.

"Just change forms, and hop in!" Levin said.

"Levin, that won't work," Shara said with a sigh. "I assume humans can't change form, and the Octo- Otome will just get stuck in the ink. They will have to walk."

"Why don't we go first and make sure the coast is clear?" Said Kirk.

"Good idea," said Marie. "Callie and I, will stay with them." The four kids hopped in and swam off, while Drake, Otome, and the squid sisters made their way on foot. After about 5 to 10 minutes of walking, they reached the end of the pipe.

"Is it clear?" Callie asked.

"There's still a lot of turfers hanging around, but this is about as good as it's going to get," Neptune responded from above the cover.

Marie thought for a minute, then spoke up. "You four. Stand in a circle around the manhole." She turned to Drake and Otome. "We'll try to hid you with our bodies. Drake might be okay since he has that armor, but you will definitely stand out. Be ready to run if things get bad." The two nodded to her, and Marie opened the manhole. The four climbed out of the manhole, and emerged in Inkopolis plaza. The group slowly made their way towards the studio in a circle formation with Drake and Otome in the center. They had almost made it to the studio, when Kirk tripped, and left a clear gap in the circle. Levin tried to help him back up, but it was too late.

"I-is that an Octoling!?" One of the Inklings shouted, and the entire plaza had focused their attention on Otome. She expected to be cursed and pelted with rocks, but while she did get a lot of disgusted and hateful looks, the majority of the Inklings were looking at her with curiosity.

"Okay, that's enough gawking," Marie said to the crowd. "You're scaring her."

"Why is an Octarian in Inkopolis?" A voice from the crowd said.

"She's with us," Callie responded. "You wouldn't want to make us sad by hurting our friend, would you?" Callie said, putting on her sweetest smile.

"O-of course not!" Most of the crowd responded.

"Then will you please give us some room? We'll update you on the news, if there's anything you need to know." Callie had hoped this would disperse the crowd, but they didn't budge. Worried that this would draw attention from the authorities, Drake stepped forward, and removed his head gear. The crowd started panicking.

"Look! It's the creature from the news report! It's Sasquid! No, it's a super Octarian! Who cares? Everybody run!" With that, the entire plaza cleared out.

"Nice one, Drake!" Callie said, clapping his shoulder.

"No, Callie. We were supposed to hide him, remember?" Marie said while face palming. Drake just shrugged.

"Well, someone had to keep them from mobbing her. Besides, it looks like they didn't figure out what I really am." While most of the plaza was now empty, a few tough looking turfers remained. They approached the group with angry faces.

"So, the squid sisters are harboring Octarians, huh? I never thought you airheads would be this stupid."

"Hey! That's rude. Come on, give us a-"

"Shut up!" The one that appeared to be their leader, yelled. "What your doing is treason! I should just splat-" Before he could finish, the barrel of a splattershot pro was shoved in his face.

"Step away from the Octoling," Shara said.

"Wh-what? Shara? Why are you siding with that monster?!"

"Unless you want to take this into turf, I suggest you back off, and go home."

"Yeah! Or are you feeling lucky?!" Neptune chimed in, as her and the other Inklings raised their weapons.

"Tch, not worth our time. Better watch your back, freak!" The Inklings left, and Shara sighed.

"Shara, you okay?" Levin asked. "Do you know them?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she responded, and the group entered the studio.

"We don't have a lot of time, so let's head right for the control room," said Marie, as the group passed the confused stage crew. As the group entered the control room, an Inkling technician jumped out of his chair in surprise.

"W-what are you guys doing here? I thought you took the day off."

"Bit of an emergency, Fran," said Callie. "We need to make contact with the Octarians." Fran's eyes widened.

"Callie, have you gone mad? What possible reason could you-" his voice trailed off as he saw the Octoling.

"Don't ask," Marie said. "Look, you owe us a favor, and I'm calling it in. Just go home for the day. I'll make sure you're off the hook if something happens." Fran looked at the Octoling again, then sighed.

"Alright, but be careful. I would hate to see you get fired. Or worse.." Fran gave the Octoling a sharp look as he left the studio.

"Thanks, Fran! We'll see you tomorrow," said Callie.

Otome took position at the com terminal, and began working the controls. After a few minutes, she spoke up. "I think I got the right setting. It would be easier if the controls were in Octarian, though." She hit a switch and the signal was sent.

"How do we know the signal will even reach them?" Shara asked.

"Oh, it will," Otome responded. "I know, because the squid sisters are quite popular in Octoburg."

"W-what!" Callie and Marie yelled in surprise.

"No, it's true. In fact, you two are about the only squids that would be welcome in our territory. I'll bet even Octavio secretly likes you." Both cousins looked away to hide their blushing faces.

Several minutes went by before a response was received, and the face of a male Octoling was displayed on the screen. "This is guardian corps HQ. Identify yourself, and explain why we are being contacted from Inkopolis," he said.

"This is Corporal Otome Maroon, unit forty three. Is that you, Kirel?"

"Otome? Why are you in Inkopolis? And where is Lieutenant Kelly?"

Otome's face went serious. "We were ambushed by a pack of land sharks. Half my team is dead, and Kelly is missing. Something was jamming my communicator, so I had to make contact with the Inklings to report in time."

"R-really? What about the zapfish?"

"Already taken care of. And get this, the Inklings captured Octavio!" Otome said with a grin.

Kirel's jaw dropped. "No frigging way! Really? This is gonna make negotiating so much easier with him out of the picture."

"You can say that again," Otome responded.

"I gotta tell the higher ups about this right away! Oh, you'd better call again first thing in the morning. I'm sure the commander will have new orders for you." Kirel turned away from the monitor. "Actually, I should let Octarias know first! He'll kill me if I don't tell him you're-" in his excitement, Kirel tripped over the power cord, causing the call to end.

"Ah, Kirel. As big a klutz as you were when we were kids," Otome said. She turned to the group. "I've done all I can for now. As long as Kirel does his job, the Guardian Corps should be able to take control of things. Though, I'll need to contact them again tomorrow." The group left the control room.

"Well, now comes the fun part," Drake said, sarcastically. "Where do we sleep?"

"Maybe Cuttlefish will let us sleep on that couch outside his shack," Otome responded.

"Oh-nonono!" Callie said, and the group turned to her. "I got a much better idea!" Marie's eyes widened.

"Callie, you can't mean-"

"Indeed I do." Callie raised her hand towards the ceiling and grinned. "Slumber party!"

"A-are you serious?" Otome asked, completely stunned. "You'll actually let us sleep here? I'm an Octoling, remember?"

"Not fair! We want to join in on this!" Kirk shouted. Neptune rolled her eyes at this.

"Of course you can! Everybody is staying tonight! Drake and the boys, can use the beds in the crew quarters."

"Then we'll just go set up in Callie and Marie's room, right Kirk?" Levin said, half joking.

"Oh, okay. Then Callie and I will hang out with Drake."

"NOT HAPPENING!" Levin roared, and Shara smacked him.

"Um.. I'll just find a unused room to.." Otome turned away to leave, but Callie grabbed on.

"Oh, no. Your staying with us. We need some girl time, right?"

"Indeed we do," said Marie, who also grabbed on to prevent her from escaping.

"Come on, it will be fun!" Said Neptune, as her and Shara latched on with devilish grins. They started to drag her away, and Otome looked at Drake, pleading for help.

"I'm sorry," was all he could say, to which Otome responded with a glare.


	14. Side 3 – The First Mission of Agent 1 & 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Notes: This was done as a birthday gift for my squad mate CreepingSouls (*IV* Crepr on the amino app). I had already written a beta for this a while ago, but needed to wait until the last chapter was posted before finalizing this one. The original characters introduced in this side story (with the exception of Piran), and the gem squid concept, are her creations. I take no claim of ownership.

Side 3 – The First Mission of Agent 1 & 2

**Authors Notes: This was done as a birthday gift for my squad mate, CreepingSouls (*IV* CreepingSouls on the amino app). I had already written a beta for this a while ago, but needed to wait until the last chapter was posted before finalizing this one. The original characters introduced in this side story (with the exception of Piran), and the gem squid concept, are her creations. I take no claim of ownership.**

Time: 9 P.M. Half an hour after the communication with Octoburg. Location: Inkopolis studio, private room of the squid sisters.

It had taken 10 minutes for the squid girls to drag Otome to their room. It took another 20 minutes for them to coax her into removing her armor and ink tank. The Inklings had changed into the pajamas the idols had lent them, and finished laying out their futons. All except for the Octoling, who was still in her shorts and tank top.

"No, way! That's not happening!" Otome yelled.

"Aw, come on! You'd look cute in it!" Replied Callie.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into removing my armor, but this is as far as it goes!"

"Otome, you need to relax a little. We're trying to show you that we trust you. A little trust back would make this a lot easier," said Marie.

"You say that like it's so easy. I mean, I already removed my gear..." Otome's defense was starting to falter.

"Then think of it in practical terms," Shara chimed in. "We're going to have our day clothes washed during the night. You don't want every one to think Octarians stink, do you?"

"Well... I guess that's true... but..." Otome pondered this, and the Inklings turned to Neptune to deliver the final blow.

"Don't you want to show your cute side to Drake?" She said with a smirk.

"W-what does he have to do with this? Wait, I know what you're thinking. We're just good friends, and I trust him! That's all!"

"Oh? Then what about Kirk or Lev-"

"NO FRIGGIN' WAY!" Otome roared.

"Then are you afraid of the boys comparing you to Cal-"

"Just give me the damn Pajamas!" Otome yelled. She snatched the clothes, and went into the bathroom to change. The squid sisters flashed Neptune a thumbs up as they waited. After a few minutes, Otome emerged from the bathroom.

"H-how do I look?" She said with a red face.

"I hate to say it, but your quite beautiful," said Shara.

"Right? She's no match for Callie though," said Neptune, still grinning. "You'll have to stay sharp, or she might steal-"

"Haha, you're so damn funny!" Otome said, as she rejoined the group. While she never fully dropped her guard, Otome eventually started enjoying her time with the Inklings. They spent a fair amount of time with the usual girl gossip, followed by the customary pillow fight, which Otome took way too seriously. After a few hours, the girls were tucked into their futons.

"Do you guys always sleep at the studio?" Shara asked.

"We usually stay at our apartment, but we sometimes sleep here when it gets busy, like splatfest," Marie replied. "We've also been doing it a lot because of our field work."

"How long have you been with squidbeak?" Neptune asked, while rubbing the new bruise she got from the pillow fight.

"Oh, gosh. We started working for gramps about a month ago, the day after we became adults. Our first mission was a real hoot!" Callie and Marie exchanged glances.

"We'll tell you about it, if you agree to keep this a secret. That includes the boys," Marie said. The other girls nodded in response, and the two began their story.

...

It was one month ago that the famous squid sister duo began their secret life as Agents 1 and 2. After celebrating their birthday, Callie and Marie, were standing outside their grandfather's shack in Octovalley.

"Thanks for the rad outfits, Gramps!" Said Callie, excitedly.

"Yeah, this will make it easier for us to get around the city," said Marie. "Sometimes our fans can really tire us out."

"That's not all I got for yah, Squiddos." Cuttlefish pulled out two wrapped packages, and handed them to the cousins. "It's a bit late, but happy birthday, girls!" Callie and Marie took the packages, and unwrapped them with vigor. When the wrapping paper was completely removed, the girls held their brand new charger and roller.

"Wow! Thanks, Gramps!" Said an excited Callie.

"Yes, it's very nice- wait, isn't this an army weapon?" Asked Marie.

"It's a replica, actually. I think you will find it very close to real thing. Don't worry, it's perfectly legal." The squid cousins exchanged hugs with Cuttlefish, and he stepped back a bit, and his face went serious. "It's the least I can do, since you two are going to be helping me. Now that you are adults, you are going to have even more responsibilities."

"We wouldn't be where we are now, if not for you," Marie responded. "You encouraged us to enter that folk singing contest, and helped get our careers started."

"Yeah! And besides, the kids love us! We have to help protect them," Callie added.

"I see," Cuttlefish responded. "Listen, the Octarians aren't push overs. I need to give you a little test to see if you are ready." Cuttlefish pulled out a poster, and handed it to Marie.

"Is this a wanted poster?" Marie asked.

"Your first job will be to bring these two in." At that moment, Cuttlefish's squid phone rang, and he began talking in a hushed voice. The squid sisters turned their attention to the wanted poster.

The picture on the left was of an adult male. 'Piran Fishburn, age: 19. Wanted for failing to heed draft summons, and attempted murder of a police officer. Was last seen fleeing Inkopolis.' To the right of Piran's profile, was a picture of a young female. 'Crepe Solis, age: 14. Wanted for stealing food from Kelp Dome. Was spotted near the beach on several occasions.'

Cuttlefish finished talking, and put the phone away. "That was a friend of mine that works at Kelp Dome. Crepe just stole another pack of food. I'll bet she's headed towards the beach again. If you hurry, you might catch her if that is where she is going. Deal with Piran after you catch Crepe."

"Okay, gramps! We're on our way!" The two turned towards the pipe that lead to Inkopolis.

"And be careful around that Piran guy! He's dangerous!" Cuttlefish shouted, as the pair jumped into the pipe.

10 minutes later, the two agents were hiding in a tree near the path that lead to the beach. "This is kinda fun, isn't it? It's like an actual police stake out!" Callie said.

"Callie, you're having way too much fun with- wait, is that Crepe?" An Inkling girl was jogging down the path, while carrying a large package. Marie double checked the wanted poster. "Yeah, that's her."

"So, what do we do? Just jump down and tackle her?"

"We could, but I'm kinda curious about where she is taking the food."

"Maybe she's feeding that Piran guy?"

"I certainly hope not." As the Inkling started putting distance between them, Callie and Marie jumped out of the tree. "Let's follow her, for now," Marie said.

As the duo tailed Crepe, they were lead down to the beach, and into a cave near the shore line. "What the heck is she doing down there?" Callie asked.

"Only one way to find out. You got the roller, so you first," Marie responded, and the pair entered the cave. After walking a bit, they spotted Crepe standing still. A strange blue glow from the far side of the chamber illuminated the cave.

"What do you suppose that glow is?" Callie asked.

"I don't know, but I think it's time we grab her. I'm getting a strange feeling about this." Callie nodded, and the two sneaked up behind Crepe. "Alright, Crepe. Hands up!" Crepe whipped around, and her eyes widened.

"W-what? How did you find me?"

"You weren't that hard to track," Marie responded. "After all, you go the same way every time. Now, put the food down and come with us!"

"I- I can't do that," Crepe Responded. "It's for a friend."

"Have you been feeding that Piran guy?" Callie asked.

"Piran? I don't know what your talking about."

"You can tell it to the police later," Marie said. "Just put your hands up." With out responding, Crepe dropped the food, and pulled a slosher out from behind a nearby rock. Marie dove backwards, and Callie attempted to knock some of the incoming ink away with the roller. While Callie had Crepe distracted, Marie lined up the laser sight with Crepe's leg to try and incapacitate her.

Marie fired a shot, but instead of hitting Crepe, the ink suddenly stopped mid flight. The back half of the ink stream fell to the ground, but the front hardened into a crystal like substance, and continued to levitate. The shards turned towards Callie, and shot towards her. As Callie barely jumped out of the way, Marie saw another Inkling standing to the left of Crepe. She lined her sights up for another shot.

"Wait!" Crepe yelled, and jumped between Marie and the other Inkling. "Stop! I give up, see?!" Crepe threw down the slosher, and raised her hands. "I can explain everything!" As Callie and Marie approached, they got a good look at the other Inkling. There were several gem stones on the ends of her tentacles and forehead, which were emitting the strange glow that lit the cave.

"What's going on? Who is that?" Callie asked, who was completely stunned.

"I'm not sure where to start," Crepe responded, and turned to the the other Inkling. "Marissa, can you go get Georgia?" Marissa nodded, and turned away.

"Don't hurt Crepe," she said, as she left the chamber. The three Inklings stood in silence, as the only thing currently lighting the chamber was Marie's flashlight. After a few minutes, the Inkling returned with another in tow. This one had similar features to Marissa, but her gems were red, and her smaller tentacles were wrapped into the shape of a seashell. With the added illumination, Crepe got a good luck at Marie's face, and her eyes went wide.

"Oh my gosh! You're Marie!"

"H-how did you know?" She asked, but then realized that her head gear had fallen off.

"I'm a huge fan of yours! It's so good to meet you!" Said Crepe, as she shook the embarrassed Marie's hand. "And that must mean that you're Callie."

Callie removed her headgear, and wore a smirk akin to her cousin's. "You will have to forgive Marie. She's not very good in these one on one situations."

"Be quiet, Callie!" Marie snapped.

"Crepe, what's going on?" The red Inkling asked.

"These two are Callie and Marie. They're famous in the city- no to all Inklings!"

"O-oh, that sounds a-amazing," The red Inkling responded. Crepe turned back to Callie and Marie.

"Guys, these are my friends, Georgia, and Marissa. They're Gem Squids."

Callie and Marie looked at each other with confused expressions. "Gem Squids?" Crepe nodded in response.

"There are a few more of them, but I think they are napping. They're all siblings, and they come from a small village near the coast." Crepe stopped, and turned towards the Gem Squids. "Is it okay if I continue?"

"I-if you think that's best. We trust you Crepe," Georgia said, while still a little red in the face.

"You will have to forgive them. Georgia is shy. Marissa is usually friendly, like Callie, but she is also protective of us. Anyway, their mother was an Inkling, and their dad was another Oceanic species, though I forget which. There were a lot of mixed breeds in that town. You would like Jordyn the vampire squid. She's a lot like you, Marie." Crepe's expression suddenly turned dark. "You saw their powers. They can crystallize and levitate ink. The people in the village feared them, and drove them out. I ran into them when I was collecting shells one day, and been helping them ever since. I know that stealing is wrong, but they don't have anywhere else to go!"

Marissa moved in front of Crepe. "She saved us. Punish me instead!"

"Marissa, no!" Georgia yelled. "I'm the one who accepted her help. If any one is to be punished, it should be me!"

"Well, this puts us in a tight spot," Marie said. "I want to let it go, but we can't just let her keep stealing."

"At least she wasn't giving it to Piran, though," Callie responded.

"You keep saying that, but who is Piran?" Crepe asked, and Marie showed them the wanted poster. "Hey, that's me! Gosh, I didn't know they were that mad at me."

"Piran is the other one," Marie said. "Do you know anything?"

Crepe shook her head, but then Georgia took the poster. "I think I saw this man. He was on the trail I take when gathering clean freshwater."

"Do you think you can take us to him?" Callie asked, and Georgia nodded. Just then, an idea formed in Marie's head.

"Our grandfather is a fair man. If you and Crepe help us arrest Piran, I'll talk to him about letting her off the hook."

"Oh! Good thinking, Marie!" Callie said, and slapped Marie's shoulder.

"Really? You'll do that for us?" Crepe asked, and the squid sisters nodded in response. "Oh, Thank you!" She said, and gave Marie a hug.

"Y-yeah, well don't thank us until the job done. And stop laughing, Callie!"

Leaving Marissa behind to watch the others, Georgia lead the group to the area she last saw Piran. Suddenly, she motioned for them to get down. "Over there," Georgia said, and pointed. Piran was sitting in the middle of a makeshift camp with three other Inklings. "He was alone the last time I came by here."

"He must be trying to form some sort of gang," Marie said. "I expected him to be alone. I don't think we should get you involved now."

"I have to do this," Crepe responded.

"Alright, then you follow Callie. I'll cover you from here. Georgia, you stay back." As the others made their way to Piran's group, Marie Lined up her sights with the nearest Inkling. When Callie was close enough, she fired a shot at the Inkling, and he fell forward, paralyzed.

"It's a raid!" Piran Yelled, and grabbed a hydra splatling. "Don't just stand there, you idiots!" The Inkling on the left grabbed a dynamo roller, and flung a wave of ink at Callie. Seeing this coming, Callie transformed, dove into her ink, and swam around to his side. She came out, and slammed the roller down, causing the dynamo user to faint. The inkling to right fell next, due to Crepe mirroring Callie's maneuver with her slosher. The three Inklings turned to Piran, who had his hydra fully charged up.

"You aren't taking me! Eat this!" He yelled, and unloaded on Crepe and Callie. Suddenly, all the pellets he fired stopped in mid air, fell to the ground and shattered due to being crystallized. "W-what the hell?!" He said, and saw Georgia staring at him with an angry expression. "Oh, screw this! Later, suckers!" Piran threw down the hydra, and turned to the ink trail he had made earlier to use as an escape route. As he prepared to dive in, Georgia used her power to crystallize the trail, and all Piran could do, was skid to a halt.

"What the hell did that monster do?!" Piran yelled, as he tried to get up.

"Don't you call Georgia a monster!" Crepe said, and sprayed Piran down with the slosher, splatting him just enough to knock him out.

"Nice one, Crepe!" Callie said, flashing her a thumbs up. Before Crepe could respond, a loud voice startled them.

"CRREEEEEPPPEEEE!" Marissa came running out of hiding spot, and embraced Crepe.

"Marissa! Weren't you looking after the others?" Asked Georgia.

"B-but I was worried about you and Crepe!" She looked at the paralyzed figures of Piran's gang.

"Come on. Let's get bring these idiots in," Marie said.

After turning Piran's gang in to the police, the 5 Inklings reported what happened to Cuttlefish. "Gem Squids, huh?" Cuttlefish said, as he rubbed his face. "I've seen a lot of things in my time, but this is truly amazing." Georgia looked away to hide her embarrassment, and Marissa giggled.

"So, about Crepe..." Marie started.

"I called in a favor to get her pardoned," Cuttlefish said. "But the stealing has to stop." Crepe looked away.

"It's okay," Georgia said. "We'll find another way."

"Not so fast. It just so happens that the foreman of Kelp Dome also owes me a favor. If Crepe were to volunteer a few hours every day, then I'm sure he could be convinced to part with some spare food."

Crepes eyes widened, and she rushed the old Inkling with a hug. "Thank you!"

"It's getting late. We should take Crepe home," Callie said. "What about you two?"

"We can find our own way back. I don't think we're ready for society yet," Georgia responded, and left. Marissa turned back to the group.

"Um, you'll come visit us, won't you?" She asked.

"Well, it will be a while, but I think we can make time," Marie responded.

"Really? Yay! We'll introduce you to Jordyn next time! Bye for now!" Marissa ran to catch up to Georgia.

As the remaining trio headed back to the pipe, Marie handed her a piece of paper with her and Callie's number on it. "Call us if you need help."

"R-really? That's so fresh!" Crepe said in excitement. "I gotta introduce you to the rest of my squad. There's this one squid that really hates the permanent ink brush, right? So we decided to play this prank, and..."

"I miss those days," Cuttlefish said to himself. "I wish I didn't have to send them to fight the Octarians." Cuttlefish headed towards his shack to rest up for the next day.

…

"Gems squids? Just when you think you've seen it all," said Shara.

"Right? Though I don't think anything will top running into Drake," Marie said.

"What's wrong with Drake? He's pretty nice!" Callie responded.

"True, I expected humans to be barbaric and simple minded," Marie responded. "But leave it to Callie to make friends with a Human, an Octoling, and a Gem Squid."

Suddenly, Shara bolted up. "Wait, you said Crepe works at Kelp dome, right? The attack yesterday..."

"Already looked into that," Marie responded. "The attack happened during a shift change, so nobody was hurt."

Callie sighed with relief. "That's good. We really should check in with her, and visit the gem squids. I wanna meet that vampire squid."

"I'm kinda interested in that," said Neptune. "What do you think, Otome? Otome?" The only response they got, was rhythmic breathing.

"D'aw, she's so cute when she is sleeping," said Callie. "I hope she opens up to us. I would really like it if we could be friends."

"We should go to sleep, so we don't wake her," said Shara.

"Yet you were always looking for an excuse to splat her," said Marie.

"I guess she's growing on me. Maybe Levin was actually right about something." With that, the Inklings all turned in for the night, except for Neptune, who was secretly hatching a plan.

…

Drake was working on his expedition journal, while laying on the bottom bunk. Kirk took the bunk above his, and Levin's bed was on the other side of the room. Currently, Levin was sitting on the edge of Drake's bed, while Kirk peaked over the side of the top bunk.

"So what is it?" Levin asked.

"My data pad. It's like your phone, but with out the calling functions. Right now, I'm finishing up my report, so the rest of my people know about whats going on."

"How many other humans are there?" Asked Kirk from the top bunk.

"About seventy, including me. I just finished here, so do you want to see some pictures?"

"You bet!" They responded, and Kirk jumped down from the top bed. Drake pulled up the photo of the security team.

"This would be what was left of the security force before the stasis. I've been leading these guys for a little over a year, not counting the time in cryo."

"So it's like our turf squads, but larger. You do any fighting?" Levin asked.

"Yeah, there were a lot of bandit raids back in the day." Drake pulled up a few photos of the Eden facility.

"That's your home? It looks a little cramped," said Kirk.

"It is, and it wasn't meant to be a permanent housing," Drake responded. He winced a little, as he accidentally pulled up the photo of him and Hanna.

"Girlfriend?" Levin said, while nudging Drake in the side.

"No. I mean, I did want to, but she's no longer with us," Drake responded with a sigh.

"O-oh, my bad, dude," Levin said, apologetically.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, you guys wanna try the games?"

"You got video games? Like actual human games!" The Inklings faces lit up.

"This one got Otome hooked. Use this to move, and this one to jump. This button is the dash, but can also be used to shoot fire balls with the right power up. I'm getting tired, so play it over there." The Inklings took the data pad to the other bunks, and Drake shut his eyes.

"Yes! No! Yes! Got him! DAMN IT!" Drake turned over.

"You died again! Levin, it's my turn!" Drake got up and walked over to them.

"Okay, let me give you some pointers so you don't keep me up all night."


	15. 2.5 - Culture Shock

The next morning, Callie was stretching out while glancing at the other girls. Both the squids and the Octoling were still asleep, but this was normal for squids. Callie, being the morning person that she was, crept out of the room, and headed towards the staff lounge. Upon entering the empty room, she went over to the pantry. 'I wonder what I should make them for breakfast,' she thought to herself. Callie had planned to win over Otome and get closer to Drake by waking them with a home cooked meal. 'Hmm, I wonder if waffles would work?' As if on cue, the lounge door opened, and Drake walked in.

"O-oh! Good morning, Drake," said Callie.

"Morning," he responded, and sat down with his head buried in his palm.

"Are you okay? You don't look so good," Callie asked.

"I guess so. I let the boys play some video games, and we ended up staying up way too late."

"What? No way! I want to play too! I Love video games, and I only got to play a human game once!" Callie's face lit up with excitement. Drake looked up in confusion.

"Wait, you've played one of our games?"

"Yeah, we dug up a few of your game players that still worked. That's how we managed to learn how to make our own. The one I played had this brick shaped controller, and-" Suddenly, Callie's eyes widened. "Drake, what's wrong with your face!?"

Confused, Drake rubbed his hands to his face, to try and pinpoint what was making her so worried. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"There's something growing out of it!" Callie responded. Drake now understood what was going on.

"Ah, don't worry. It's just facial hair. I haven't shaved in a while."

"You have that stuff on your face, too?"

"Some people like beards, but I find them to be both ugly and distracting. Good thing I brought my blade with me. Excuse me for a minute." Drake went into the bathroom to clean himself up. Callie walked over and shouted through the door.

"Hey! I'm making breakfast! Do you like waffles?"

"Sure!" He shouted back in response. "I love- wait, Inklings have waffles?"

"Yep! Though, it might be different than the human version. I don't know what kind of ingredients you use."

"Well, I'm game. It will be nice to eat something besides rations from the Eden facility." This motivated Callie to cook the best breakfast she could. Now only one question remained.

"Do you think Otome would like it?" She asked.

"Well, she did mention something about not liking Octarian food. I don't know what she is used to, but she loved the produce I gave her, and that stuff was mediocre as hell. I don't think she will be hard to please."

"Really? That's great! Maybe tonight, we can try pizza."

"You have pizza too? I can't even remember the last time-" Drake suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute. For pizza, you need cheese. To make cheese, you need milk. And for milk, you need a cow. Since I'm pretty sure the few cows left alive are at Eden, where are you getting this key ingredient?"

"Well, I think it's better if you don't know," Callie said awkwardly, giving Drake a sense of dejavu. "But I think you'll still like-"

"AAAARRRRRGGGGG!" Callie was interrupted by a loud shout, and several pairs of rapidly approaching footsteps. The door was thrown open, and Neptune ran in, followed closely by Otome.

"NEPTUNE! GET BACK HERE!" The Octoling roared, and proceeded to chase her into the hallway. At that time, Drake came out of the bathroom with a confused look on his face.

"What was that about?" Drake asked, and Callie just shrugged.

"Neptune must have pulled another one of her pranks." As soon as she said that, Neptune came running back into the room, changed into her squid form, and hid in the pantry. Otome ran in, and started looking around for Neptune.

"Where is she!?" Otome asked. It was now obvious what hat gotten her so wound up. There were numerous drawings and marks on her face. Hiding their smiles, Drake and Callie pointed to the pantry, and Otome bared her fangs in a devilish grin. She walked over, and grabbed Neptune, who was still in her squid form.

"Traitor! Evil Doer!" Neptune yelled, while pointing at them with her tentacles. After Otome left with her captive, Callie turned back Drake, and started laughing.

"I got to hand it to Neptune. She pulls some good jokes." Callie noticed that drake was staring at her face, more specifically, her mouth. "Something wrong?" She asked.

"O-oh, no it's not that. It's just, well, your teeth." While surprised a little, Callie opened her mouth wider, so Drake could get a better look. "Interesting. While the rest of your teeth are similar to ours, those two fangs on the sides, and the one pointing up in the middle, are really unique looking. Doesn't it hurt to talk or eat?"

"Not at all. Rather, I was going to ask you the same thing about your- Oh shoot!" Callie quickly retrieved the waffles out of the cooker. "Phew, that was close. Another minute and they would have burned."

Drake took a seat at the table, and Otome came back around the same time. She took a seat next to him, and rubbed her forehead while using Drake's shoulder as support with her other arm. "Those girls really tired me out," she said. "I should have been up hours ago."

"Yet you don't look too upset about it," Drake said with a smirk.

"Oh, be quiet!" This normally would be the time Callie would make a comment about them being cute together, but something made her hold back this time. She shrugged it off, and put another batch of waffles on. "What's that smell?" Otome said, as she finished cleaning the marks off her face.

"Waffles. I made breakfast for everyone. Here's the first batch," she said, placing the waffles in front of the two, along with a jar of syrup.

"What's a waffle?" Otome asked while eyeing the food in front of her. "We definitely don't have anything like this in Octoburg." As Otome pondered the food in front of her, Drake took a bite.

"This is really good!" He said. "It's a little different than how we make them, but still excellent. Thanks, Callie."

"R-really?" Callie said, her face red. "I was worried that you wouldn't like our food. How is it, Otome?"

Drake and Callie looked at Otome, who hadn't taken a bite yet. Nervously, she took her fork, and placed a piece inside her mouth. Then she took another bite. Then another. "This is... Amazing!" Was all she could get out before she started scarfing down the rest of the waffle, as Drake and Callie watched.

"T-thank you, Otome. W-would you like seconds?" Otome just nodded in response, as she continued her meal.

"I'll jump in on that," Drake said, as he started eating again. Callie smiled to herself, as she put on another batch. Just then, they heard a 'Meow' come from the other side of the room. Drake jerked up in surprise.

"Was that... a cat?" He said. Another Meow was heard.

"Oh, it's Judd. I need to get his meal ready too," said Callie.

"Judd? No, it can't be." Drake walked over to the cat, who was walking on his hind legs. His head was large and his tail had a strange shape, but the unique markings on his fur were too similar to the feline he once knew. He picked up the cat and took a closer look at him.

("After all this time, you still pick me up every chance you get.") For what seemed an eternity, Drake stood frozen. Not only was this cat the same Judd from the Eden facility that had been release 2000 years ago, but he had just spoken to Drake. Though, perhaps spoke was not the right word, as Drake felt the words being written directly into his mind.

("If you are going to hold me, do it while sitting down.") Still shocked, Drake simply did as he was told, and sat down, while Otome and Callie stared. Judd curled up on his lap. ("Ah, I missed this feeling. As much as I love my Inkling family, the warm touch of a Human was always my favorite. I'm really glad to see you survived, Drake. I never thought I would see another human again, let alone you.)

"You two know each other?" Callie asked, but Drake wasn't paying attention.

"How... Why... two thousand years... talking in my head." Drake slowly stroked the cat, while his mind tried to process this unbelievable turn of events.

("It was your father. He injected something in me.") Judd said, guessing at what Drake was trying to ask. ("It changed me. I became intelligent, and my lifespan was drastically increased, as you can see. Though I do not know how I gained this ability to speak with my mind.")

Drake finally started to recover from his shock. "Wait, when did my father... That day in the cryolab!"

("Do not begrudge him.") Said Judd, sensing Drake's anger. ("I was angry myself, back when I was first released. But thanks to him, I was able to live among the Inklings. These people have been good to me over the years, and I enjoy my job judging turf wars games.")

"I'll keep that in mind, but I will be having a talk with father. For now, this is just too much to take in."

Otome chimed in when Drake stopped talking. "What's a turf war game? Tell me you aren't fighting another great war."

"You don't know what turf war games are?" Asked Callie. Before Otome could respond, the other Inklings started piling in the lounge, drawn by the smell of food.

"Something smells tasty!" Said Levin, as he entered with Kirk in tow.

"Have a seat, boys. I've got another batch of waffles coming out," Callie responded. She hummed one her songs, as she placed the waffles in front of the stunned boys.

"Wait, for real? We actually get to eat Callie's cooking?" A wide eyed Kirk said.

"This is the best!" Levin shouted. "I gotta get a picture of this. Frost is going to be so jealous!"

"Levin, don't be rude," said Shara. "Besides, didn't you learn your lesson the last time you pissed him off?"

"Ah, that's true," Levin responded, and preceded to eat his waffle.

"By the way, do you have any Ramen?" Shara asked.

"And you call me rude! You won't even try it!" Levin cut in.

"Hey! I've been eating too much lately! Though, I guess I could at least try a bit." With out asking, Shara took a bite out of Levin's waffle.

"Hey! I didn't mean eat mine! I demand seconds!"

"You know what? I'll have one too," said Shara, ignoring Levin. Callie beamed a smile, and placed a waffle in front of her. Levin immediately took a bite out of it, and Shara attempted to tentacle slap him in response. Levin ducked, and the tentacle almost hit Neptune, who had sneaked to the table during the excitement.

"You missed me, squid!"

"No fighting at the table!" Kirk yelled.

"This is very good. I didn't know you could cook, Callie," Shara cut in.

"I get that a lot," said Callie, with a laugh. "Everyone thinks Marie is the cook, but she can barely make toast with out burning it."

"Now that's funny coming from somebody who can't ride a bike and failed her drivers test three times!" Everybody turned to the figure who had just entered the room. Marie, who had just woken up, took a seat at the table. Her tentacles were undone and drooping down, and here eyes looked bloodshot.

"Marie! I know you're not a morning person, but clean up first! You're scaring the kids!"

"After food," Marie responded. The group chatted among themselves for a while, then Otome glanced at the clock.

"Is that the time? Crap, I forgot to contact Octoburg!" Otome jumped up, and ran for the control room.

…

The figure of a middle aged Inkling was sitting at his desk. He was reading a magazine, and drinking an expensive cocktail. After some time, his computer indicated that a voice chat was being requested. He hit a button, and the connection was made. "Punctual as always, mister chairman," the caller said. "I would imagine most Inklings would still be asleep at this time."

"You don't become the head of a major company with out being on top of things," the chairman responded. "I take it this is about our partner?"

"Indeed. Not only did Octavio fail in his plan, but he got himself captured in the process."

"So I heard. Did he at least do enough damage to incite the war?"

"Unfortunately, one member of the Guardian Corps recon team survived, and made contact with both the Inklings and Octoburg. I doubt the Mariners can do anything at this point, and some of them may suspect that they are being used." The Chairman was disturbed by this.

"Sounds like we are going through with our back up plan, after all. Maybe it's time we cut Octavio loose."

"Not just yet. While we certainly won't be trusting him as a 'partner' anymore, he may yet be of some use. I know of a way to recover him, but I will need your cooperation."

"As always, you have my support, as long as we get what you promised. When are you going to show your face, anyway?"

"When the time comes." With this, the call ended.

"Well, long day today," the Chairman said to himself. "Splatfest always gets us the most business."

...

The door to the control room was thrown open, and the group entered. Otome quickly sent out a communications request to Octoburg. When the response was received, the figure on the screen was that of an older Octoling elite. "Commander Ophelia!" Otome said. "Has Kirel informed you of the situation, ma'am?"

"He has, and frankly, I find your report to be rather disturbing. How could you be so stupid as to enter Inkopolis? And for that matter, what do you think you are wearing?"

"Apologies, ma'am! But my uniform is being washed. Also, I had no choice but to enter Inkopolis, otherwise-"

"I don't need excuses! Just wait until you get back, I'll-" She suddenly stopped, glanced at another monitor, and her face went pale. "You're in more trouble than I thought. He wants to talk to you directly. Standby, and remember your place!" Ophelia hit a switch, and the face on the monitor was replaced with that of an enormous male Octoling. His presence was even more commanding than Octavio's.

"Emperor Octurus!" Otome said, and bowed. "It's an honor, sir!"

"Raise, Soldier!" The emperor boomed. "I commend you on the way you calmly handled your predicament. My condolences on your team."

"T-thank you, sir!"

"Now, I assume the Inklings with you, are the Squidbeak agents that defeated Octavio?"

"Y-yes, sir! But how do you know that?"

"You don't live as long as I have with out taking precautions, but enough of that." Octurus turned his attention to the Inklings standing behind Otome. "I thank you for removing that obstacle for me, as well as your discretion on the matter. Thanks to your efforts, the peace talks are almost complete. And with that, I have a favor to ask our dear squid sisters."

Suddenly, several older Inkling dressed in formal attire, entered the control room. "Callie and Marie? You two have been selected to serve as our representatives." They handed the cousins a pair of envelopes. "Your instructions and papers are all here. Review them before attending tomorrow's talks." Not giving them a chance to protest, the officials left the room.

"That sounds more like an order than a request," Marie said. "Are you serious?"

"Indeed I am," Octurus responded. "Who better to be Octoburg's first Inkling guests, then the famous duo!" Callie and Marie looked away in embarrassment, while Otome mouthed an 'I told you so'. "Corporal Maroon!" Octurus said, and Otome snapped to attention. "Take the rest of the day to get familiar with the Inklings. Tomorrow I want you to escort the squid sisters to Octoburg."

"Y-yes sir!" She responded. Octurus turned to Drake, who was standing in the back, and looked directly at his face.

"And bring the elder race man with you." The group all exchanged shocked glances. "That is all. Dismissed, Corporal! Or should I say, Sargent?" The screen switched back to Guardian Corps HQ, and Ophelia was just as shocked as the Inklings.

"Y-you have your orders, Sargent Maroon. Report to HQ in dome two, as soon as you get back. I'll have Kirel meat you." With out waiting for a response, she cut the transmission, and the screen went black.

"How did they know about Drake?" Marie said, confused.

"I sure as hell didn't tell them," Otome responded. "Someone in your government must have found out. Either that, or we're being spied on."

"We can worry about that later," Shara said. "The question is, what do we do about her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Otome snapped.

"If you're going to be here for another day, we need to do something to prevent another incident like last night."

"But what can we do? We already scared everyone," Kirk responded. The group pondered for a while, then Neptune spoke up.

"I have an idea," she said with a grin. "Do Octolings turf war?"

"Oh, YES! Nice one, Neptune!" Callie said with a grin. "We can have another opening act before splatfest starts!"

"Turf war? Splatfest?" Drake and Otome said with confused expressions.

"You'll know soon enough," Marie said with her signature smirk. Levin chimed in next.

"The four of us already have a match scheduled, but I think I know a team that's still down a member."

…

An hour later, Frost was waiting by the tram station. Levin had called him to arrange a match, and Frost accepted the offer, thinking that he had been challenged by his friend. He was starting to get impatient, as both his team and Levin, had yet to show up."

"You really shouldn't pace like that. It makes it look like your girlfriend stood you up." Frost turned to the female Inkling that had spoken to him.

"Sandy? I thought you were still sick."

"I'm not well enough to play yet, but there's no way I'm spending another day in bed," she responded. Frost wanted to protest, but saw Bass and Citra approach from the other side of the station.

"Yo, Frost! All ready for splatfest?" Bass asked.

"Yeah, but I wonder why Levin wanted to have a match out of the blue," Frost responded. As soon as he said that, the main monitor switched on, and the Inkopolis news chime sounded.

"Hey everyone! Only a half hour to go until splatfest!" Said the excited Callie.

"Hope everyone on my team has been practicing," Marie said.

"But before we begin, we got a rare treat for you today. A special match will be played to mark our biggest splatfest yet!" Callie said.

"What kind of match is it? It's a secret for now," Marie added.

"But we can say that you will all have the opportunity to witness history in the making. And that's not all! Marie and I will personally be providing commentary!" Callie said with her fist raised in the air.

"Way to mimic Sheldon. Your impressions are getting a little better," Marie said with a smirk. "Anyway, Don't even think of missing it!"

"Until the match starts, we will be showing highlights of the current games being played, so get pumped!" The squid sisters signed off, and the screen began showing various games being played.

"Hey, that's Levin!" Bass said. "And he's playing with Shara?"

"It looks like he's gotten better," Citra added.

On the screen Levin and Kirk were working together to push back several Inklings that were advancing on their territory. As Kirk pinned one down, Levin finished it off with a shot from the blaster, leaving the other one open to a flanking attack from Neptune, though not before he got off a lucky splat on Kirk. Levin then squid jumped to Shara's position, and the two pushed in hard towards the enemy S.P.A.W.N. The match ended in a crushing victory for team Squidbeak.

"Looks like he learned how to follow commands. I wish he had shown me the same courtesy," Frost said. "Anyway, let's head to the lobby, and see what he wants."

…

"YOU'RE ALL MONSTERS!" Otome's screaming voice filled the lobby reception area. "YOU ACTUALLY KILL EACH OTHER FOR FUN?!"

"I'm afraid I have to agree with her," said Drake as he tried to keep his cool. "Humans had a history of blood sports, but to actually use kids? Your friends? That's disgusting!"

"Y-you got it all wrong! It's not what it looks like," said Callie, in a panic.

"Sharkshit! I saw the boy die! I can't believe the Mariners were right all along. I should have stayed on Octavio's side!"

"Um, can you please not write me off yet?" Kirk said, as the Inklings returned from the arena.

"What? How...? I saw you get splatted.. Is this a trick?" Otome instantly went from being angry, to confused.

"Take another look at the footage," Marie said, as she rewound the match to the point where Kirk was taken out.

"There, you see! How can he still be alive?" Marie played the footage again, and stopped it at the point where he appeared to burst into a puddle of ink.

"That right there, is the Ink being forcefully ejected from his body. Looks like he exploded, doesn't it?" Marie played the footage for a few more seconds, then stopped it again. Raising from the ink puddle, was the figure of a glowing squid.

"Is that a ghost?" Otome was astonished at what she saw.

"I can see why you would think that," Marie responded. "But it's actually a tether beam from the S.P.A.W.N. Pad."

"A what pad?" Drake asked.

"Splat Prevention And Warping Node. I think that's what it stands for," Callie said, and Marie replayed the footage again.

"When the system registers someone as being near incapacitated, a tether beam will latch on, and force an Inkling into their squid form, ejecting all the ink in the process. Then the beam pulls them back to their pad to finish the de-splatting." Both Otome, and Drake were at a loss for words.

"D-doesn't that hurt? Is it even safe?" They asked.

"Not as much as you might think," Shara said. "The re-spawn process is actually quite relieving."

"But Levin knows all about that. Don't you, killer?" Neptune added.

"Hey!" The other Inklings laughed at this.

"I-I need to think. This is just too much to take in," Otome said.

"Well, don't take too long. You're up soon," Shara said, dropping a bomb on Otome.

"...What?" Was all she could say.

"Turf wars are a pretty big deal to us. The best way to get the Inklings to accept you, is to show them what you are made of!" Kirk said.

"I don't care if they like me!" Otome snapped.

"W-well, but at the very least it will keep another incident like last night happening. You don't want to go through that again, do you?" He added. Otome pondered this for a while.

"I guess I know why you wanted me to come here with my ink tank and weapon. Fine, what do I have to do?"

"Great!" Callie said. "Just do what you do in the on the battlefield. Oh, but the goal is to mark as much territory as you can. So concentrate on that, rather than just getting splats."

"Unless you're a sniper, like me." Marie said with a grin.

"Let's get you registered with the-" The color suddenly drained from Callie's face. "Oh, shoot! We forgot to get you the starter kit!"

"What's wrong with my equipment?" Otome asked with an irritated tone. "I like my armor and Octoshot just fine, thank you."

"It's a bit more complex than that," Shara said. "Army weapons aren't allowed, and you're going to need an automap. I would suggest a new ink tank too."

"Yeah, I can see a ton of cracks in that thing," Kirk added.

"Callie, we still have twenty minutes. Let's get her to ammo knights. You come too, Drake," Marie said, and the four left the lobby. At that moment, Frost entered the lobby, and walked over to Levin.

"Was that an Octoling? I heard a rumor that there was one in the plaza last night, but I didn't think it was true."

"Oh it's true, all right," Levin responded. He then noticed that there was a fourth Inkling along with Bass and Citra. "Hey, I thought you still only had three?"

"That's Sandy, our fourth member. She's still recovering, so she only came to watch splatfest."

"You must be Levin," Sandy said. "I heard a lot about you. I wish I could have been there when you pissed off our squid sister fanboy the other day."

"Did you have to bring that up? Geez. Anyway, what did you want us for? Are you using Shara for some sort of revenge match?" Frost asked.

"As if I would allow something that petty," Shara responded.

"Nah, nothing Like that, dude," Levin said. "You know that Octoling you saw? Well, she's your fourth."

"Ha! Very funny, Levin. Now cut the jokes. We need to get some practice in before splatfest starts."

"He's not Joking," Neptune cut in. "That's my job." The amused grin on Frost's face, quickly faded, as he realized that Levin was serious.

"Levin, have you lost your friggin' mind?"


	16. 2.6 – Otome Don't Turf

The squid sisters were leading the Octoling and human towards the weapon shop. Again, Otome was getting a mix of curious and disgusted looks. Drake was also getting his share of stares, thanks to his actions the previous night. The Inklings weren't sure what to make of him, due to the fact that his armor and helmet made him stand out even more.

"We definitely need to get Drake some new clothes," Marie said, as they reached Ammo Knights.

"Good idea, but would Annie and Jelonzo have anything that would fit him?" Callie asked.

"I don't know. We'll check after we get Otome geared up. By the way, Sheldon is a little strange, but he's a good guy. Just don't be surprised if he starts trying to get you to talk about Octarian or human technology."

The group entered the weapon shop, and Drake looked at the weapons on display. "Wow, some of these look like they were based on human design," Drake commented.

"Funny you say that, good sir." The owner of the sudden voice popped up from behind the counter. He wore what looked like a military uniform, a large pair of brass goggles, and a very unusual helmet. "Many of these weapons were based off the designs of relics recovered from piranha pit." The little weapon shop owner hopped over the counter, and closed the distance between them. "My grand pappy and I, are elder race enthusiasts. Which is why I'm thrilled to have you in my store, my friend from the past."

The group exchanged glances with each other. "How did you figure that out so fast?" Marie asked. "And why are you so calm about this?"

"Ha! Like I said, my family has been studying them for generations. Grand pappy Ammoses would be very disappointed if I let this slip by. And believe me, it's taking every ounce of mental strength to stay composed, but that's something being a weapons dealer will teach you." The little creature smiled, and rubbed the side of his head.

"So, I take it you're not an Inkling?" Drake asked?

"Inklings aren't the only species that live in Inkopolis. I'm actually a horseshoe crab, and my name is Sheldon," he responded.

"Drake Von Kaufmann. And yes, I'm a human. Uh- nice to meet you," Drake said, awkwardly.

"So what do you think of our weapons?" Sheldon asked. "I'm very curious how they would compare to what you used."

"Well, I can definitely see the resemblance to firearms, though some of them look more like toy water guns. Is- is that a Gatling gun?" Drake pointed to a large multi barreled weapon.

"Oh, that would be the splatling model. That's also the most direct adaptation of humans weapons we have ever done. We have three types, the quick charge mini, the slow and powerful hydra, and the heavy at middle ground."

"What's the rate of fire on those things? Oh, what about the rev time?"

Sheldon's expression became even more excited. "I'm glad you asked, buddy! The hydra was designed to make up for its slow charge with a long barrage of ink. And that's not all!" It can fire at a rate of-"

"Sheldon.." Marie interrupted. "I'm glad you two are having fun, but this is no time for your catch phrases."

"Then what can I do for you?" He responded.

"We need a starter kit. Can you spare one for us?" Callie asked. Sheldon was surprised at this.

"What for? I know you two don't need one, and I'm pretty sure a human wouldn't be able to play the turf games."

"It's not for us, it's for her." The two cousins moved to the side, and exposed the figure of their Octoling companion. Sheldon looked at her in suspicion, but his face showed no signs of hostility.

"An Octoling too? This day is full of surprises," he said with a shrug. "Are you planning what I think you are? Is that even allowed?"

"She's a special case," Marie responded. "Can you hook her up for us?"

"Who am I to deny the squid sisters," Sheldon said, and went back behind the counter. After a few seconds, he pulled out a large case, and opened it. Inside the case was a splattershot Jr, a new ink tank, an automap, a pack of bomb casings, a pair of shoes, a T-shirt, a head band and a strange looking cylinder shaped object. "I'll take that damaged ink tank off your hands, and send it to recycling," said Sheldon. "Just because I'm a weapons dealer, doesn't mean I can't be Eco-friendly."

Otome handed him the ink tank, and strapped on the new one. Next she picked up the automap and the cylinder object. "What are these?" She asked.

"That's an automap," Marie responded. "It will show you an overview of the arena, as well as the position of your teammates, discovered enemies, and it will warn you of ink strikes. You can strap it to your wrist if you want." As Marie showed Otome how to use the automap, Drake was reminded of the old smart phone wrist straps that joggers used to use to listen to music.

Sheldon spoke up when Marie finished. "As for the other device, it's called a special morph."

"Special...what?" Asked a confused Otome.

"It's a recent addition to the S.P.A.W.N. System," Sheldon continued. "In the past, if you wanted to use a special weapon, like the inkzooka, you had to carry it with you into the arena. Now, once you're special morph is charged up, a tether beam will strike it and cause it to morph into what ever special is tied to your weapon. This also has allowed us to add a few new additions to the list, like the Kraken form."

"You guys don't screw around with these games, do you?" Otome said, as she put the bomb casings in her gear pack. Otome then examined the splattershot Jr. "Tell me you aren't serious... This looks like a child's toy. Can't I just stick with my octoshot?"

"Don't under estimate the Jr," Marie said with a sigh. "Besides, as Shara said, army weapons are banned. Although..." Marie turned towards Sheldon. "Think we can borrow one of those replicas, Sheldon?"

"Now you're asking for a little too much," he replied. "You know they only make a limited number of those. It's supposed to be a reward for skilled players, after all."

"We just want to use it for one match," Callie said. "Pllleeaaasssee?" Sheldon thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Oh, alright. But only if the human tries out a few of my weapons. He can do so while the Octoling tests the replica."

"Deal!" Otome answered for the group. While a little annoyed that they didn't ask his opinion, Drake didn't object because, like Sheldon, he was interested in trying the Inkling weapons. Sheldon handed Otome the replica octoshot, and she put the splattershot Jr and Inkling cloths in her equipment bag. "I guess I'll keep these as a memento."

"Leave the real octoshot here. You can come get it when you are done with the replica." The group followed Sheldon to the target range. As Otome began shooting targets, Sheldon handed Drake a tank already filled with ink and a weapon that looked like Otome's octoshot.

"Let's start with our most popular weapon, the Tentatek splattershot. It's well balanced with speed, power and range. Give it a shot on those targets."

Drake pulled the trigger, and a line of ink landed on the close range target. As he took aim at the long range target, he forgot to account that the range of ink was much more limited than bullets, and they fell short. Aiming the weapon up, he fired another burst and let gravity do the rest, causing the second target to pop.

"You catch on pretty quick," said Sheldon. "You have a lot of shooting experience, don't you?"

"You could say that," Drake said in a melancholy voice, as he thought of the hellish days he spent fighting raiders. "Apart from the limited range, it does have a similar feel to an assault rifle."

"Like the one you've been carrying with you?" Sheldon asked.

Drake nodded, and a sudden thought crossed his mind. He was reminded of the time he let Otome shoot, and how she almost got knocked on her butt. "Wanna give it a try?" He asked, trying not to laugh.

"Can I? I've always wanted to shoot a human weapon." Drake set the rifle to semi-auto, handed it to Sheldon, and the girls covered their ears. Sheldon fired a shot, and because Drake had intentionally neglected to warn him about the recoil, Sheldon was literally knocked off his feet. He came down, landed on his helmet, and turned over with a spectacular somersault. Callie and Marie clapped at this, and Sheldon took a small bow. Drake took the rifle back, as his little joke had backfired.

"Thank you," he said. "That was most thrilling, but I think I will stick to just studying human weapons." Sheldon refilled the tank on Drake's back, and Drake continued to test out a refurbished mini splatling, a scoped E-liter, a .52 gal, a dual squelcher, and the hydra splatling, which wasn't as heavy as Drake had expected.

"Based on what you told me about turf war, If I were to play, I think I would use the mini splatling, though the hydra seems like an excellent defense weapon," Drake said. "And this is coming from someone who doesn't use heavy weapons."

"Ha! I knew you would understand!" Said the happy horseshoe crab. "Not a lot of Inklings appreciate the splatling line, especially the hydra."

"Though for actual combat, I would probably go with the Tentatek," Drake added.

"That's understandable. In fact, Tentatek is currently negotiating to get their weapon to be standard issue for the army."

"I hate to interrupt your guy time," said Marie, who was getting impatient. "But we only have five minutes left, and we need to get Otome registered with the S.P.A.W.N. System."

"Well, good luck with your match," Sheldon said, and the group left the store.

"Wait, we forgot to get Drake new clothes!" Said Callie.

"Alright, I'll take him. You just get Otome back to the transport lobby."

"But..."

"Callie," Marie said with a smirk. "Don't you think you're hogging him a little too much? Maybe I want to get to know the wonder boy a bit." Not having any time to protest, the other two just nodded, and left for the lobby. Marie locked arms with Drake, and he could see the expression on nearly every inkling in the plaza turn to one of blood lust.

"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" Drake said with an embarrassed expression.

"Consider it payback for that shot you got on me," she responded, still grinning.

"I thought you weren't going to hold a grudge?"

"Who said anything about a grudge? Unlike our dear innocent Callie, I like to play hardball." Marie laughed a bit and gave him a playful smack on the shoulder. Then her expression turned serious.

"But enough teasing. Listen, the shops around here won't sell to anyone who they don't consider 'good enough'. This was originally just Sheldon's policy to keep rookies from getting in over their heads, but that snob, Crusty Sean, took it upon himself to turn it into a prestige thing to make his wears look better. He also ended up talking Jelonzo into following suit, and forced Annie to join him." Marie paused a bit, then looked Drake in the eyes. "I'm telling you this because Annie is the sweetest and most polite girl in the city. So don't hold it against her, okay?"

"I'll keep that in mind," Drake responded.

"Good. And watch out for her partner, Moe. That guy is a real jerk," Marie said, and the two entered Annie's shop.

"H-hello, Marie. How can I help you?" Said a small girl, as they entered. Drake let Marie do the talking, while he tried to figure out what sea creature the Oceanic girl evolved from. Unlike the Inklings, her tentacles were short and numerous. Almost like actual hair. "S-so what do you need?" She asked in a meek tone.

"Bit of an emergency, Annie." Marie responded. "But can you get something for my friend?"

Annie looked Drake over, not sure what to make of him. "W-well he doesn't seem to be a registered turfer. I-would like too, but the others will get mad at me..."

"I'll be the one paying for it," said Marie. "If they complain, tell them it was for me." Annie heisted. "We don't have time for this. Show her, Drake." Drake removed his helmet and goggles, and Annie froze in place.

"I'm a human, or the elder race as you probably know us," he said as softly as he could to avoid scaring the girl anymore than she already was. "My name is Drake."

"O-oh my gosh! OH MY GOSH!" She bowed her head so far, that Drake thought she was going to give herself a concussion. "I-it's an honor, Mr. human! I'm so honored that you would allow me the privilege to be in your company, sir!" Her head continued to move up and down in bows.

"H-hey! Don't do that. I'm not so great that you have to prostrate yourself in front of me. Just call me Drake," he said, while trying to force a reassuring smile.

"O-oh, but that wouldn't be proper." Annie looked around, and Marie nodded at her. "R-really? Can I?" Drake also nodded in response.

"T-thank you, Mr. human! er- D-Drake!" Annie bowed again, and Drake understood what Marie had meant. He had thought Callie was the kindest girl he had ever met, but this girl was so polite, that he couldn't help but to want to be her friend.

"It really makes you want to protect her," Marie said, and her voice and expression suddenly changed to match those of Neptune. "Doesn't it, big brother?"

"Y-yeah, she really is sweet." Drake said, unaware of the joke. "Uh, you don't have to bow to me either."

As Annie raised her head, a figure suddenly flew out of her tentacles. "STOP BOWING TO THOSE LOSERS! ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME SICK?"

'This must be Moe,' Drake thought. While he was startled at the fact that Moe was just a flying clown fish, it did help him realize what Annie had evolved from. "Excuse me, but are you two a clown fish and an anemone?"

"NO, WE'RE AN OCTOLING AND A CRAB! WHAT DO YOU THINK, NERD!"

"Easy, Moe," Marie said. "We just want to buy him some headgear, and we'll be out of your-"

"NOT HAPPENING! GET YOUR LOSER ASS OUT OF THIS STORE BEFORE I-" Surprising everyone, Annie grabbed Moe, and held him in front of her face.

"Moe! You will not call Marie and her friends losers! Do you understand me?" This shocked Marie, as Annie hardly ever stood up to her partner.

"WHATEVER, YAH DORK! DON'T CRY TO ME IF SEAN GETS MAD AT YOU!" With that, the clown fish retreated into her tentacles.

"S-sorry about h-him," Annie said. "G-go ahead and pick what ever you like." Drake and Marie looked around the store. After making a decision, Marie payed for the headgear, and the two turned to leave.

"C-come back, anytime," said Annie. "I-t was good to meet you."

"S-sure. You too, Annie," he responded, while Marie laughed at him. The two left Annie's store, and headed for the clothes and shoe shops. After going through a similar routine with Jelonzo and Crusty Sean, who were surprisingly eager to have Inkopolis's first human wear their goods, Drake now looked a bit more natural. He had come out of the shops with a squid Nordic, which was almost as bad as the helmet in the heat, but needed to hide his hair, a black anchor tee and a pair of icy down boots.

"Thanks for this," Drake said, noticing the fact that he was getting considerably less stares. "I'm not sure I will be able to pay you back, though."

"About that," Marie said, and turned to Drake. "It's only been a day, but ever since you and Otome arrived, Callie has really been having a lot of fun. You might not believe me, but we don't have a lot of real friends. Sure we have our fans, but most of them just see us as the 'squid sisters', rather than Callie and Marie the Inklings." Marie paused again, and Drake waited for her to continue. "So just keep being Callie's friend, and maybe get Otome to open up to her a little. Can you do that for me?" Drake didn't even hesitate.

"You don't have to ask that. Rather I should be asking if you two are really okay hanging around a human."

"O-of course we are! But just worry about Cal-" Drake cut Marie off before she could finish.

"I know how you feel. All of my human friends are long gone, and I can't get too close to my men because I'm kinda their boss. I like Callie and Otome a lot, and I would like to consider you a friend as well. I can respect someone who worries for their family like that." Drake stuck his hand out.

"Heh, idiot. You don't know what you are getting into." For the first time in days, Marie showed a genuine smile, and shook his hand. As he tried to pull away, Marie yanked him towards her, and locked arms again. "You aren't getting away with saying embarrassing crap that easy. Come on, let's get to the transport lobby," she said, and pulled Drake through the crowd that looked ready to maul him.

…

"This is crazy! We're not doing that." Frost was pacing around the the transport lobby, as he argued with his team. "It's bad enough that Levin had the idiotic idea of having us play with an Octoling, but look at who we're facing. Frigging Mako and Starheart!"

"What the hell kind of name is Starheart?" Otome asked in an irritated tone. Octurus had ordered her to get familiar with the Inklings, but this kid was not making it easy.

"It's not her real name. She and Mako are league players, and they use stage names," Bass said. "Playing with an Octoling aside, this is going to be even worse than Shara."

"But who are the other two?" Citra asked. "I've never seen them before." The names of the other two, were Jade and Pearl. They were both armed with Tentatek splatter shots.

"Beats me," Frost said. Maybe his other teammates heard about the Octoling, and made the smart choice. I mean, we can't even match ink colors. Our purple isn't the same as Octarian purple. Now we have to worry about getting shot by her as well."

"Let me see your ink tank," Otome said, still fighting the urge to introduce the backside of the octoshot replica to Frost's head.

"O-oh sure," Citra said, and turned her back so Otome could get a better look. Seeing the particular shade of purple in her tank, Otome took a tampering cylinder out of the side pack, and dropped it into her tank, causing it to change into the same color as the ink in Citra's tank.

"There, problem solved. Got anything else you want to moan about?" Otome snapped at Frost.

"Tch, just don't get in the way, red head." Frost tapped the nearby panel to indicate that his team was ready. The transport system activated, and launched the squids and their octopus teammate, to Blackbelly Skate park.

"Good luck, guys!" Levin and Sandy shouted.

"The time has finally come for our very special opening splatfest match!" Said Callie's voice over the loud speakers. Otome looked around and saw hundreds of Inklings in the near by structures and on the walls.

"Looks like you've drawn quite a crowd," said Bass, as he looked around. "I've never seen so many Inklings watch a game in person. Who knows how many more are watching on T.V." Marie was next to jump in on the loudspeaker.

"I'm sure many of you are very confused right now. Yes, that is an Octoling. She's come all the way from Octoburg to get a taste of our turf wars. Give a warm welcome to our Friend, Otome, and her teammates, Frost, Bass, and Citra, of team Icebreaker!" The crowd gave an odd mixture of nervous and confused responses.

"Their opponents will be Mako and Starheart of team Bento," Callie said. "Two of their teammates were unable to attend, so Jade and Pearl from Tentatek Corporation will be filling in." The crowd gave a cheer to the opposing team.

"Great, not even the crowd is on our side," said Frost, and the starting signal blew. "Bass, go left. Citra, take the right side. Red, you back one of them up, and try not to get splatted too quickly." Frost and Bass immediately moved out, inking territory as they went. Citra turned to Otome.

"U-um, would you like to pair with me, Otome?" While Otome didn't much care for the girl's reserved attitude, the fact that she was willing to use Otome's name made her the least likely to be problematic.

"I would rather go alone, but I guess I can give it a try," Otome responded. Citra nodded, and the two moved out to the half pipe on the right. Citra fired a shot to cover the ground in the middle, and Otome marked the territory on their flanks as they moved in. Suddenly, a suction bomb was thrown from above, and Jade jumped down, with Pearl right behind him. Instead of using her ink to escape, as the two Tentatek users expected, she did a combat roll forwards, then dove to the right, taking out Jade with a stream of shots. The tether beam latched on, and pulled him back to his base.

"Looks like our Octoling friend got her first splat. Nice moves, Otome!" Said the excited Callie, and the crowd sent out more confused chatter. Otome turned on Pearl, who had already adjusted her aim. Before either of them could shoot, a stream from Citra's E-liter knocked Pearl into a puddle of Ink, and she too was sent back to base. Citra looked at Otome with an inquiring face, and Otome responded with a thumbs up. Pleased with this, she swam up to Otome, and the two made their way to the center tower.

In the distance, Otome saw Jade appear at his base pad. 'So they really don't die. Good, now I don't need to hold back,' she thought to herself.

"Cover me while I get on the Tower," Citra said. Suddenly, an ink ball exploded near them, and Otome heard Mako yell "Heads up!" As Citra shifted to squid form, Otome grabbed her, and tossed her up to the tower, just as another ink ball from Mako's Luna Blaster hit Otome dead center, and the crowd cheered. She yelped in pain, but then she could feel the ink be ejected from her system. As the tether beam latched on, Otome understood what Shara had meant when she said that the process was quite relieving. In fact, she felt better than ever.

"Looks like she just experienced her first re spawn," Marie said. "Told you the pad would work on Octarians." As Otome regained her bipedal form, she noticed that her fear of death was now gone. There was now nothing stopping her from going all out on these squids. Otome was going to enjoy this.

"Red! Jump to Bass and back him up," Frost said over the communicator. Otome wanted to return to Citra, but she decided to do what she was told to avoid his complaining. As she came down, Bass pulled her into cover, just as an inkzooka charge came flying down the narrow passage.

"A narrow escape for our Octarian friend. How will she handle this one?"

Suddenly, Otome heard a ping, and looked at her automap. "The meter is full. What's that mean?"

"That's your special meter. If it's full, hit it to activate your inkzooka. Now would be a very good time," Bass responded. Otome hit the icon, and her Special Morpher changed to an inkzooka. She peaked around the corner, and fired a shot and the unsuspecting Pearl. "Nice one, Octoling! Follow me!"

As the pair moved into Bento's territory, Citra cried over the communicator. "Help! Jade took out Frost, and Now Starheart is after me!" Otome turned to go help Citra, but all she could do was watch as a single shot from Starheart's charger sent Citra back to base. Otome moved to engage Starheart, but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Not so fast!" Mako jumped down from the catwalk, and fired a shot from his blaster. Otome dodged, and threw a suction bomb at him. "Whoa! That's what I'm talking about!" Mako jumped backwards to avoid the suction bomb, and Otome swam around in the ink trail Bass had made. As she came out, she hurled another suction bomb behind Mako, forcing him to jump forwards into the spot she was aiming at.

"Whoa! Otome's already gotten her third splat, and she just took out a league player!" The crowd began to cheer again.

'Why are they cheering?' Otome wondered. 'Maybe it's for Callie's commentary?' This was quickly debunked, as she could hear them chant "Otome! Otome!" Unfortunately, her confusion had left her open to a shot from Starheart's charger.

"Whoops! Gotta stay focused, girl!" As Otome was de-splatted, she took a look at her auto map to see where her teammates were. Seeing Citra near the tower, Otome decided to jump to her position. As she came down, she saw Pearl waiting for her, already shooting at the spot she was going to land at. She would have been splatted, if not for an inkzooka shot from the back platform.

"That was a close save there. Keep up the teamwork, guys," Marie said.

"Red! Watch where you jump! The automap will give away jump positions!" Frost's inkzooka de-morphed, and he took his Tentatek to engage Mako. As Citra swam up the tower, Otome began hunting for Starheart. She spotted her on the back platform near her base, trying to get a shot off on Citra.

As she approached, Jade and Pearl jumped out of the nearby Ink and went straight for Otome. Out of nowhere, Bass came flying down the side path, and sprayed Jade down with a flick from his Krack-on. Before he could move on Pearl, she jumped back, and hit him with a burst from the Tentatek. A shot from Citra cleared the way for Otome to engage Starheart. As she moved in, Starheart took a shot at her, and Otome barely avoided the shot. Starheart took aim again, but another Shot from Citra forced her to jump back, which allowed Otome to block her retreat with a suction bomb. Starheart had no choice but to engage Otome at close range. A move that quickly sent her back to her base.

"Holy Fish!" Said the excited Callie. "She just took out Starheart! What do you think, Drake?"

"*#%#%#^! ! $^&$% #%$"

"Oops! Forgot that only works in person. What about you, Shara?" Thankfully, the crowd didn't seem to notice this slip up.

"Her moves are impressive, but she needs to step up her coverage." The crowd went wild with cheers for Otome.

'This sensation... is amazing!' Otome thought to herself. The thrill of battle with out the fear of death or the guilt of stained hands was the most stimulating experience she had ever been through. The crowd only magnified it, and Otome was enjoying every minute of the game.

"There you are! Come on, let's have one big finale!" Mako appeared in front of her, and Otome accepted his challenge. The pair threw bombs to block their retreat, and lunged at each other. A shot from Mako's Luna, a burst from Otome's Replica, and the two were sent back to their pads at the same time. The ending signal sounded, and all players were returned to their pads.

"That was quite a spectacle," Marie said. "Let's go to Judd for the results. Fran, pan the camera to him." An image of Judd appeared on the screens, who looked closely at the ink coverage. After a few moments, he raised his paw, and held up a little yellow flag, which caused the crowd to erupt in anger. Team Icebreaker had lost. "Well this is a bit of a shock. Let's take a closer look at the statistics."

Otome checked her automap and saw that she had come in second place on her team coverage wise, between Bass and Frost. Her splat count, however, was the highest in the game, beating out Starheart by 1. The combined point count from the other team had caused them to lose by a very narrow margin, but it was still a loss. The crowd was still shouting angry phrases like "I call shark shit!" and "The Octoling should have won!" Though Otome did notice a few jeers mixed in as well.

"That was quite a game!" Callie said. "Great work to both teams, and have a good splatfest, everyone!" The transport system activated, and Otome was sent back to the lobby.

"What the hell was that, Red? That little stunt you pulled cost us the game!"'

"Calm down, Frost!" Bass yelled. "It's her first game, and we all could have done better. Besides, it's not like we had much of a chance of winning against that team!"

"Yeah! You would have done a lot worse, if not for her!" Levin added.

"Oh, so your taking the Octarian's side now? You know what? I'm done! Oh, and Levin? I'm not turfing with you anymore." Frost stormed out, and Bass chased after him with Sandy. Citra turned to follow, but stopped.

"U-uh, sorry about Frost. Thank you for playing with us. I had a lot of fun," she said with a worried expression.

"D- don't worry about it. You weren't so bad yourself," Otome responded, and Citra beamed a smile, which surprised Levin.

"R-really? Thanks!"

"Hey, I'm going to walk Citra to the tram station, I'll catch up with you later," Levin said.

"Let's play again sometime!" Citra said, and they exited the lobby.

"I would like to get in on that too." A sudden voice from behind caused Otome to turn around. The other team had exited the transport system. Pearl and Jade stormed past with annoyed expressions, but Mako and Starheart stopped in front of her. Starheart removed her headgear, and bowed to Otome.

"Thank you for making my last match so exciting," she said with a kind voice.

"Ditto for me," Mako replied. "I can't even remember the last time I worked up such a sweat. You Octolings are something else." Otome was stunned at this.

"Well, I- I mean, wait your last match? Are you quitting?"

"Not exactly. Starheart and I have been called in for army service. Even though things are calming down, the government isn't taking any chances. We can't even attend splatfest, and have to leave... now, actually."

Starheart stuck out her hand. "I hope we meet again. Perhaps next time we can fight on the same team." Otome shook hands with both Starheart and Mako, and they bowed again in respect. The two Inklings left, and the squidbeak agents walked up to her, along with Drake.

"See? I told you they would accept you! Now you can enjoy splatfest with out getting dirty looks," Kirk said.

"Too bad about the loss, though. I really thought you had it," Neptune added with surprising sincerity. At this point, Otome didn't care about the loss.

"So what exactly is a splatfest?" Drake asked.

"I'm glad you asked!" Callie said. "Now that it's getting late, it's time to show you what we can do!" The group lead the human and Octoling into the crowded plaza.

…

"Sir, are you sure about this?" A female figure said into her phone.

"They plan to take him back after the peace talks. We have to be ready to act. What about the Octoling?" The female looked at her partner, who shrugged.

"The S.P.A.W.N. System ended up being compatible with her. I don't think there's anything that can be done at this point."

"Unfortunate, but she isn't really that big an issue anymore, since the damage is already done. Leave her alone for the time being. We can't draw anymore attention to ourselves." The call ended and the male spoke up.

"Guess we should head back. We'll be in real trouble if we screw this up."

**A/N:** **OC credit for this chapter:**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Jade and Pearl – VORTEXTION –**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jade and Pearl – VORTEXTION –


	17. 2.7 – The Fateful Splatfest.

It was getting dark, and the squid sisters had returned to the studio to prepare for the splatfest concert. Levin, Shara, Kirk, and Neptune, were currently fighting it out for their respective teams. The theme for this splatfest was, coincidentally, Callie vs Marie. Levin and Neptune were on team Marie, while Shara and Kirk fought for Callie.

Drake was standing towards the back of the plaza to avoid drawing attention to himself. He waved Otome over, who had just returned from trading the replica for her octoshot. "I'm guessing you don't know anything about this either," he said.

"Are you joking? The Octarians never have any big events. Hell, we're lucky just to get our annual festival," Otome responded. They looked around and spotted the squid sisters approaching them. They were wearing their stage outfits, which was a first for both Drake and Otome, who had only seen their squidbeak outfits and casual clothes. The dresses they wore were similar to their day clothes, but much more flashy.

"Well maybe they can finally explain-" Drake suddenly stopped, and became lost in thought. 'Wait, the voices on the radio, the girls I saw singing while I was on the roof... was it them all along? Was that why I felt Callie was familiar?' The nagging feeling Drake felt back in Cuttlefish's shack now started to make sense.

"Drake? Something wrong?" Callie asked him with a look of concern.

Drake shook his head, and decided to put the issue on hold. "No, it's nothing," he responded.

"So, are you going to tell us what this splatfest is about yet?" Asked Otome, with an impatient tone.

"I guess it's time we give you and overview," Marie responded. "It's a celebration of the turf wars. Each player picks a team based on a theme, and they go splatting all night, while we provide a concert."

"Oh, so a celebration of your little victory a hundred years ago!" Otome snapped.

"N-no nothing like that!" Callie responded. "I-mean, it probably started that way, but nobody thinks about things like that! It's just about having fun."

Marie thought for a bit, and spoke up again. "Maybe if we get you into the feel of it, you will understand better. Follow us, and we'll get you two put on a team." As the squid sisters started moving towards the front of the plaza, Drake turned to Otome.

"You know, you shouldn't be so hard on them. Callie is a good girl, and she wants to be your friend. I think Marie does too, though she probably won't admit it."

Otome turned away, and wore a pained expression. "I know that. I know, but it's not that simple. My people have been living underground for a century now, and things just keep getting worse for us. It's not easy to just throw all that away when your people are slowly rotting and dying out." Otome glanced over to where the squid sisters were, who were waving at them. "Look, just give me some time, alright?" Drake nodded in response.

"Funny how you can get along with a dead race, but not with your neighbors."

"Smart ass," Otome responded. The two headed over to where Callie and Marie were, and looked at the machine they were standing by. It looked like a voting box, and had a picture of the two on each side with a button under each one.

"So, uh, the theme this time... is us," Callie said with a red face. Marie, who was also embarrassed, picked up for her cousin.

"The fans have been asking for this for a while now. After we had this stupid argument on camera, the producer thought it would be a good time to have the fans battle it out to decide who the popular one was." Marie composed herself, and looked towards Otome. "You're already in the system, and I took the liberty of creating a profile for Drake. Just pick who ever you like best, and hit one of those buttons." Drake and Otome glanced at each other, and both hit the button for Callie. "Oh, come on!" Marie said, with a slightly annoyed tone. "Why both of you?"

"Well, Callie has been really kind to me, and was quick to forgive that misunderstanding. Not that I don't appreciate your help," Drake said.

Otome just said one word; "Waffles." They could all hear Callie yell "Score!" The machine recorded their votes, and asked for their shirt size. Drake just assumed to enter the largest size available, and they were given two T-shirts with Callie's picture on them.

"Well, you made your choice," Marie said, as her expression lightened up. "Wear it with pride, I guess." The two turned to the stage.

"We need to start the concert. Why don't you two go get changed?" Callie said.

After getting changed, Otome came out of the bathroom, and was ambushed by several of the stage crew. "The squid sisters want you to join them up front."

"W-WHAT!? Are they trying to get me splatted?" Otome said, and looked over to Drake.

"Uh, they just said the Octoling," a crewman said, as they gave Drake a puzzled look.

"Better just go with the flow," Drake said, and Otome was dragged away. Drake went back to his spot at the back of the plaza, and waited for the concert to start. After a few minutes, the squid sisters appeared with the bewildered Octoling behind them.

"Y'all ready to get this concert started!" Callie yelled to the excited crowd.

"Not that my team needs any motivation to dominate, but I figure it's about time to give Callie's team a boost. Wouldn't want this to be too easy," Marie said with her signature smirk.

Callie pulled the red faced Otome towards her. "Not while I got my Octoling pal with me!" The music started, and the pair began to dance as Otome desperately tried to keep up. She was sloppy at first, which gained more than a few chuckles from the crowd. Since Otome had already seen a few of their concerts from Octoburg, it didn't take too long for her to start mirroring their moves, and the crowd, who had never seen a dancing Octoling, really started getting into it.

Drake was standing in the back with a perplexed expression. While he was enjoying the show along with the lights and fireworks, something was bothering him. 'I know it was those two we heard on the radio, but why does it seem so different?' After a while, he came to a realization. The autotran was already making their voices sound a little mechanical, but it was also mixing both their actual voices, and untranslatable amplifications coming from their microphones. He switched it off, and listened to their natural voices. 'Much better. These are definitely the voices that saved us from that depressing spiral.' Drake spent the next hour getting lost in their songs. Eventually, the squid sisters stopped singing, and Drake switched the autotran back on.

"Thank you!" Callie said to the cheering crowd. "We need to take a short break, but in the meantime, let's see how the turfers are doing!"

The screens in the plaza all switched to various games being played. At one point, it showed a game the squidbeak agents were playing. By luck, all four of them were in the same round. Levin was pushing back several Callie players with his blaster, when Shara suddenly dropped down behind him, and took him out with a quick burst from her pro. She moved in to regroup with her team, but didn't notice Neptune hiding in her ink, the same way Shara did on Levin's first battle. She popped out, and splatted Shara with her .52 gal. As the spotlight fell on her, Neptune made a gesture towards the camera. A costly move that left her open to an attack from the freshly de-splatted Kirk.

"Those four look like they are having fun," Otome said, with a tired look.

"Oh? You mean like you were on stage?"

"Ugh, that was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done," Otome responded. "Not to mention seriously tiring. I don't know how those two do it."

"And once again, I point out that you don't look upset," Drake said with a smirk.

"If you weren't a human and a close friend, I would seriously bash your thick bony head in," Otome said with an expression that was both amused and annoyed. The two chatted for a bit, and suddenly, Drake got an idea.

"Hey, can you wait here for a bit? I think I just had an epiphany."

"What? Hey, where are you going?" She responded.

"To give my people a wake up call!" Drake said, as he ran over to where the squid sisters were.

…

"So, are you going to tell me what this is all about?" In the Eden Facility's control room, Commander Mclarrin and Manfred Von Kaufmann, were waiting for the security force to explain why they had called for a meeting with the entire base.

"I don't know either," Brandon responded. "Drake just contacted us from the city, and told us to gather everyone in the control room."

"Well, when is he going to call us back?" Mclarrin snapped.

"Right now." Suddenly, the main screen was switched on, and Drake came into view, along with the Inkling operator that was assisting him. "I suppose you are all wondering why I called you here," Drake said.

"Wow, you weren't lying when you said there are more of you," Fran said. This was gibberish to the other humans. "Uh, is there anything else you want me to do?"

"Can you clean up the signal a bit?" Fran nodded, and after a few moments, the picture became clear.

"Officer Von Kaufmann... What do you think you are doing showing this thing our home?" Mclarrin was trying her best to keep cool.

"I'll get to that, but Dad, can you connect me to the library computer? I'll upload my journals and the photos I took."

"Uh, yeah sure. I can do that." Drake could tell that the situation was delicate if his father was that unnerved. As he sat down at the control console, Takeshi spoke up.

"Dude, where's the red head?"

"Really, Takeshi? That's what you ask?" Matt smacked him over the head.

"So I guess I have to be the one to ask it," Brandon said. "What is that creature sitting next to you? That looks a lot different than the girl we rescued."

"Well, he's an Inkling. You can find the details in my journal. As for Otome, she's watching the concert," Drake responded.

"Otome? That's her name? Cute." Said Takeshi, as he rubbed his head.

"Concert? What concert?" Reggie asked. "Wait, don't tell me.."

"Well, I thought the best way for you all to see the world we now live in, would be with something that gave us all hope. Fran, can you patch in the video feed?" Fran nodded, and the monitor changed to a view of the Inkopolis stage. Manfred looked around, and saw the expressions of the humans become as excited as the day they first heard them on the radio.

"Clever, Drake. I knew you would do something great one day."

...

The squid sisters started singing again, and the crowd had joined in on the dancing. More than a few Inklings asked Otome to dance with them, but she refused each time.

"Are you sure about that?" Drake asked, as he returned from the studio control room. "Between the turf war, and your dancing, I think you got most of them thinking well of you."

"What makes you think I can dance with a random Inkling if it's hard for me to just be friends with the squids we already know?" Drake just shrugged in response. "Besides, if I'm going to do that, I-I would rather-"

"Dance with a few real squids?" The sudden voice made both of them jump, and turn around. There were four inklings behind them in the corner of the plaza. Otome's expression became angry, and Drake slowly placed his hand on his concealed handgun holster. It was the turf squad that confronted Otome the previous night.

"Don't make me laugh. I doubt even the lowest girl would be caught anywhere near you." Otome responded.

"Aw, don't be like that." The leader terned towards Drake. "You wouldn't want the city to find out about the elder race man, would you?"

"W-what are you talking about? Don't you know a male Octoling when you see one?"

"Shark shit. I had my contact do a bit of investigating on you two, and I think he's seen enough elder race artifacts to know that he is not Octarian." The Inkling grabbed Otome by her tentacles. "So why don't you save yourselves the trouble of getting the cops involved, and just come with us, you little ink st-"

Before the Inkling could finish, Drake drew his handgun. He pointed it at the Inkling's arm, but the turfer suddenly lurched forward, and let go of Otome. Everyone was confused, as Drake only meant to scare him, and hadn't pulled the trigger. They looked over, and saw a splattershot pro aimed at the leader's head.

"I thought I told you to stay the hell away from her!" Shara and the rest of the squidbeak agents were all standing behind the group. "I'm not going to give you another warning, Gull!"

"What the hell, Shara? Are you really going to chose an Octoling over me? It isn't too late to come back, you know."

"Gull, if I haven't already made it clear, we're done! The only thing I have left to say to you is to GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" Shara yelled.

"Just how much of a backstabber are you? First me, then your whole race?"

"GULL!"

"Okay, fine. If that's your choice, I'm taking you down with her!" Gull dropped down, and kicked the splattershot pro out of her hand, while his team moved to attack the other agents. Kirk was immediately punched in the stomach, and knocked to the ground. Neptune jumped on his attacker and bit him in the ear. As he screamed in pain, Kirk got back on his feat, and bashed the Inkling in the head with his weapon.

"A little help here, guys!" Levin yelled, while dodging punches from the other two inklings. Shara had gotten a few good hits on Gull, but then he grabbed her by the head.

"Drake, Shoot him!" Otome yelled.

"Not a good idea! Hold this, but don't pull the trigger!" Drake said, as he handed Otome the handgun. Gull was about to punch Shara's face, when his fist was deflected from a blow from the side. He dropped Shara, and turned to face Drake.

"Oh, so bone boy is an Octarian lover too? Fine, bring it!" Gull took a swing at Drake's face, but Drake dodged to the right, and delivered a sweeping kick to his legs, which caused him to land on his back. Drake aimed a kick at Gull's face, but he rolled to the right, and managed to quickly get on his feet. Gull then rammed his head into Drake's chest, and now Drake was on the ground. Otome moved in to help him.

"Stay back!" Drake said to her, as a fist came down on his face. The blow was surprisingly powerful, and his jaw was rattled. As Gull raised his fist again, Drake aimed a kick right between his legs. "Glad to see Inklings work the same way as humans," Drake said, as Gull froze due to the intense pain. A flying kick from Levin knocked Gull to the ground.

"You okay, dude?" Levin asked, as he helped Drake get on his feet.

"Oh, just you.. wait until my brother hears.. about this," Gull said, while trying not to let the pain get to him. "He's a cop you know, and when... I tell him about.. this.."

"You will do nothing of the sort!" A loud voice made them all freeze. A spotlight fell on the group, and the entire crowd had turned their attention to the back corner of the plaza. The one who had yelled was Callie. "We got the whole thing on camera! If anyone is going to get arrested, it's you jerks!"

"That, and they did interrupt everybody's fun. Maybe our fans would like to handle this one," Marie said with a devilish grin. Most of the crowd looked ready to kill Gull and his gang.

"I've got half a mind to let them tear you apart," Neptune said. "Get out of here while you still can." Thankfully, he wised up and took her advice. His gang limped off to the tram station.

"Shara, you okay? Seriously, what's with that guy?" Levin asked. Instead of answering, Shara shook her head, and ran down the nearby alley. "Hey, wait!" Levin yelled, and ran after her.

"Okay, let's give them some space." Marie said. "We don't want a couple of jerks to ruin spatfest, so just turn this way, and we can resume the concert." The crowd didn't budge.

"Hey, guys! This way? What are you all... Oh crud..." Callie's face drained, as she saw that Drake's Squid Nordic had been knocked off in the fight, and his hair and face were fully exposed. This time, the Inklings were getting a good look at him, and he was being broadcast through the entire city.

…

"Oh boy. Drake, you've done it now." Brandon was staring in disbelief at what he had just seen on the screen. The concert had been interrupted, and the camera had panned to the fight that Drake was a part of. His headgear was gone, and his face was dead center of the screen. Commander Mclarrin had blood lust in her eyes.

"THAT'S IT! HE'S DEAD! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM WHEN HE GET'S BACK!" For once, her rage was understandable, as he had just given the humans away. It would only be a matter of time before they would learn of the Eden facility, and they were not ready for any sort of formal contact.

"Commander, I think you need to calm down," Justin said. "I think half the men here would have done the same thing."

"Hell yeah, we would have!" Takeshi yelled. "What kind of man does that to a cute girl!"

"Not very helpful when you say it," Brandon said with a sigh. "Wait, what's going on now?" On the screen Drake was being taken to the front of the crowd by one of the singing Inklings. The crowd gave him a wide birth, as Drake and Otome were taken to the stage.

"Tell me they aren't going to do what I think they are," Mclarrin said, trying to control her rage.

"Actually, this might be a good thing," Manfred chimed in. "If Drake handles this correctly, we can give them a good first impression of humans. Remember how Drake made friendly contact with, what did he call it, the Octoling?"

"You can't be serious, Manfred. Even IF I trusted him with that, there's quite a difference between just one and an entire race!"

"True, but it had to happen at some point. Besides, I can't think of any one more qualified than Drake right now. He knows more about them than we do, and those singers seem to have a good impression of him."

Mclarrin thought about his for a moment. "Fine! But if he screws this up, then I'm banishing him from Eden!" The 69 humans turned their attention back to the screen.

…

"So as you can see, the elder race isn't completely dead after all," Marie said to the confused crowd.

"Can it talk?" Someone from the crowd yelled.

"Well, he can... but..." Marie and Drake exchanged looks, and Drake spoke up.

"M-my name is Drake. I-it's nice to meet you all. And yes, I-I'm a human" He said awkwardly. The reaction from the crowd was mixed, due to the limited range of the autotran.

"Holy crap! I understood him!" The Inklings towards the front said, while the Inklings in the rear yelled "What are you talking about? What kind of language is that?"

Marie repeated what Drake said for the crowd that was in the rear. "He can't actually speak our language. He's got a machine that let's us understand him, but it's range doesn't reach very far. I'll let you know what he is saying." The crowd was muttering incoherent chatter for a while, then they started asking questions.

"Why have the humans returned after so many years?"

"W-well, I've been asleep for all that time," Drake responded. 'I'd better not bring up the others,' Drake thought.

"Whoa! Humans can sleep that long? What's your second form?"

"W-we don't have one. No creature from my time was capable of shifting forms. I was pretty surprised when I first saw Otome do it." 'I hope Marie can explain that one for me.'

"What? So he can't play turf war? OH! What about video games!"

"Oh, yeah. I got plenty of those. I hear you got the technology from us." 'Okay, I can work with this.'

"Are you single!" A female from the front yelled. 'Seriously?'

Marie grabbed Drake, and pulled him into another arm lock. As expected, every male in the crowd looked like they were ready to kill him. "Sorry, but he's taken."

"Whhaaaaaattt!? Marie, since when?" Callie looked dumbfounded.

"Joking! Just squiddin' yah, Cal," Marie said, and released Drake. "But who knows for how long our friend from the past will stay that way." Both of the cousins stuck their tongues out at each other.

"Did he come here with the Octoling?" Another person in the crowd asked. The three on stage, turned toward Otome, who had been lost in thought for the last few minutes.

"W-well, I guess we did come here together."

"Sounds fishy!" The crowd yelled.

"W-wait! It's not what you think!" The crowd clearly wasn't listening to her. "Ugh, I hate being on stage. Stupid Inklings.."

"Hey! Are there more humans like him? Any cute girls?" The crowd finally asked the question that Drake was trying to avoid. The squid sisters, and Octoling turned to him. Drake shook his head.

"That's enough questions for one night," Marie said, cutting off the questioning crowd. "And on that note, we have to end our concert early. Callie and I have an important job to do tomorrow." The crowd was obviously disappointed with this.

"Sorry, guys! But you still have plenty of time to enjoy splatfest!" Said Callie. The two cousins tried to lead the human and Octarian to the studio, but the crowd was not making it easy. Many of them were bombarding the pair with questions, and a number of them were sneaking selfies with their squid phones. One boy even went as far as to hug Otome, while his partner snapped a photo. Drake had to hold her back to keep her from strangling him, which a girl used to plant a wet one on Drake's cheek.

"Alright! You guys are getting too rowdy! Give them some space!" A familiar voice shouted. Mako, Starheart, Kirk, and Neptune were pushing their way through the crowd.

"Mako? Starheart? I thought you guys had to leave to join the army," Said the confused Otome.

"We did, but our captain ordered us to remain as security for splatfest," Mako said, and pointed to his new uniform. "Apparently, his daughter called him and asked to let us stay for splatfest. I think her name was..."

"Shara," Starheart finished for him. Otome and Drake looked stunned.

"She's such a daddy's girl," Neptune said with a grin.

"Neptune, this is no time for jokes!" Kirk said with an annoyed tone.

"Anyway," Mako continued, and turned towards the crowd. "If you won't listen to the squid sisters, maybe you will listen to the army?" The crowd immediately backed up, and opened up a path to the studio.

"Hey, Callie! We've got to get home, so we'll see you at the usual place tomorrow!" Kirk yelled. The crowd immediately focused their attention to Kirk and Neptune.

"Nice going, you dope! Now they're going to be after us!" Neptune said, and the two took off running to the tram station.

In the studio, Mako and Starheart, were apologizing for not being able to stop the fight. "We really tried," Starheart said. "But we were just on the wrong side of the crowd."

"I-it's okay," Otome responded. "The squid sisters were able to stop it before it got too serious. Although..." Otome glanced at Drake, who just shrugged.

"Well, we gotta get back to our patrol. We can't play in the games, but it was nice to see the concert. Later, guys!" Mako said, as he left the studio.

"It was nice seeing you again, Otome," Starheart said, as she moved to catch up to her partner.

"O-oh, you too," Otome responded. "And stop laughing, Drake! There's nothing wrong with respecting a rival!"

…

"Well that could have gone better," Brandon said, after the screen lost connection with Inkopolis. "Would be easier to know exactly what happened if we could understand the Inklings."

"Yeah, but the autotran doesn't work over electronics," Justin responded.

"Still, at least Drake was smart enough to not give the rest of us away yet," Matt said. The team looked over, and surprisingly, Mclarrin didn't look too angry.

"We'd better get in touch with him first thing in the-"

"What! The singing is over?" One of the crewmen shouted.

"Looks like it," Manfred responded. "I've added the recording to the library computer, along with Drake's notes. You should take a look at them in your free time."

"Forget that!" Another crewman yelled. "Let's look at it now! Put it on the main screen!" Manfred looked over to Mclarrin, who nodded in approval. Manfred accessed Drake's photo's and journal, and the Eden crew began to study the people they now shared the world with.

...

Levin had spent the last 10 minutes searching the alley for Shara. He finally spotted her next to a dumpster, curled up in a ball. "Why are you hanging out in a garbage filled alley?" Levin asked, as he sat down next to her. She jumped a little, but didn't look at him.

"Because I belong here. It's what I am, garbage." Shara responded.

"Now what makes you say that? Nobody thinks of you that way." Shara didn't respond. "Well, I guess we can just sit here until you feel like telling me." Almost half an hour passed, until Shara broke the silence.

"I used to be on the same team as Gull, as well as his girlfriend."

"I figured it was something like that. It's not your fault he's a jerk."

"It goes deeper than just being the girlfriend of a jerk. Back when I first started, He offered to take me in and train me. His team had lost a member, and I guess he saw something in me. He was different back then, so I don't think it was just because I was a girl. Or maybe I was to stupid to notice." Shara paused again.

"So what happened?" Levin asked.

"It worked out well for a while. We started climbing in the ranks, and eventually he asked me out. I thought he genuinely cared about me, and maybe he did at the time, so I accepted. But..."

"Was it a relationship problem? Or did the team just fall apart?"

"Both, actually. You know how he said his brother was a cop? Well, he's pretty high up. Because of this, Gull started getting cocky. He would start pressing me to 'progress' our relationship."

"That sounds pretty bad. So, uh... did you.."

"WHAT! NO! I NEVER EVEN KISSED HIM!" Shara jumped up and was about to smack him, when she saw the serious expression on his face. "I hate you sometimes," she said, and sat back down. "Anyway, that wasn't all. He also started cheating in the turf wars. Using actual army weapons instead of replicas was one of his favorite cheats. And when ever he was questioned, his brother would just cover it up."

Levin thought for a moment, before answering. "That's awful, but I don't see why you think any of this is your fault." Levin placed a hand on Shara's shoulder.

"It's because I'm a coward! I never tried to talk him out of it, and I was afraid of what his brother would do if I went to the police." Shara paused again. "So I took matters in to my own hands. We eventually got into this amateur tournament that would guarantee the winners a spot in the official leagues. We won the game, and right when they were about to hand us our prize, I proved his cheating in front of the entire crowd. The rest of the team got banned from tournaments and leagues because of it."

"Sounds like he got what he deserved," Levin responded.

"Yes, but the other two were innocent! I back-stabbed the rest of the team, because I was to afraid of Gull and his brother! I deserve to be hated by them."

"They don't look innocent to me!" Levin shouted. "Even if they were your friends and didn't cheat, they still backed up Gull and let him hurt you!"

Shara looked at him in surprise. "But.."

"No buts! If you were garbage, you wouldn't have saved me from that Octoling. If you were garbage, you wouldn't have protected Otome. If you were garbage, Drake wouldn't have risked exposing himself to protect you from Gull." Levin stood up, and looked Shara in the eye. "If you were garbage, I wouldn't be trying to help my friend."

"Okay, I get it!" Shara said with a sigh. "You really are an idiot, but thanks."

"Well, this idiot would like the honor of walking you home," Levin said, as he reached down for her hand. Shara took it, and he helped her up.

"Well, maybe just this once." Shara straightened out her tentacles, and the two started walking in the direction of the tram station. "Oh, but if you try anything.."

"What?! Do I look like Gull to you?"

**A/N: OC credit for this chapter:**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**


	18. 2.8 – Homecoming part 1

The next morning, the squid sisters, Octoling and human, were eating another helping of waffles that Marie had requested for her victory meal. Judd was curled up on Drake's lap, and purred while getting stroked. "I still can't believe I won splatfest." Marie said, while eating her meal. "Though it would have been a lot more fulfilling if so many squids hadn't sabotaged the other team."

"Yeah, but some of my team did it too, the jerks. But you still won, Marie! Congratulations!" Callie responded.

"Thanks, Cal," Marie returned to finishing her waffle, and Otome looked up.

"Wait, sabotaging? Seriously?"

Callie and Marie both looked embarrassed. "Well, there's always a few that will do anything to get the theme they want to win, but I've never seen this much before," Marie said. "I guess they just got too wound up. I'm just glad that none of our friends did that."

As they finished up their meal, Otome looked at the clock and pointed. "Thanks for the breakfast, but we need to get going. You don't want to keep the Emperor waiting," she said.

"Right, you are! But we should check in with gramps first," Callie responded.

("Do what you must to insure we never go through that horrible war again") Judd said, as they left the lounge. The squid sisters changed into their disguises, and Otome and Drake put on their armored uniforms. They left the studio, and headed towards the pipe that leads to Octovalley. After checking that the coast was clear, they jumped in, and started walking down the pipe.

At Cuttlefish's shack, the other four squidbeak agents were already assembled, and getting the old Inkling caught up on what had transpired the previous day. Levin waved over the other group when he saw them emerge from the pipe. "Hey, guys. Um, Shara thought it would be best to tell the Cap'n what happened last night." The group looked over at Shara, who was leaning against a tree.

"I-is she okay?" Otome asked, which surprised everyone.

"I'm fine," Shara said, and walked over. "I hate to say it, but the idiot's simple mindedness is contagious."

"It takes one to know one!" Levin said, as he dodged a tentacle slap.

Shara turned to Otome and Drake, and bowed. "Thank you for standing up for me last night. I don't know what Gull would have done if you hadn't stepped in."

"Indeed," Cuttlefish said as he walked over. "While getting into a fight was foolish, protecting your friends and comrades is commendable."

"Well, I don't... I mean, we aren't-" Otome stumbled.

"What she means to say, is we only did what was natural. Right, Otome?" Drake said, and Otome just nodded while trying to recompose herself.

"That being said, I'm not too thrilled to learn that the Inklings found out about you," Cuttlefish said to Drake. "Though, I guess there's no helping it. I just hope both your race and ours, are as open minded as our little group is."

"You worry too much, gramps. The kids loved Otome after her turf war debut, and they were really interested in Drake," Callie said.

"Yeah, the living fossil over here, even has a couple of fan girls. Isn't that right, lover boy?" The smirking Neptune chimed in. Drake rolled his eyes.

"Don't remind me of that. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the only ones who know about the other Eden survivors are you guys."

"Well, if that is squared away, mind doing something about that flying thing? Darned thing woke me up early," Cuttlefish said, and pointed to an object hovering in the sky. It was the Eden drone, and it appeared to be searching for something.

"Must be looking for me," Drake said, and approached the drone. As soon as it spotted him, his radio immediately signaled an incoming call.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU ARE IN?!" A loud voice flared up as soon as he set the connection.

"Good morning, Mclarrin," Drake responded.

"DON'T GOOD MORNING ME! YOU'RE LUCKY YOUR FATHER COVERED FOR YOU, OR YOU WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO SET FOOT IN THE BASE AGAIN! GET BACK HERE, RIGHT NOW!"

"I can't do that. Not yet, anyway."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T RETURN!?"

"Listen, commander. There's a political situation going on here that could start or prevent a war."

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?"

"If you would quit SHOUTING, I would tell you. I've, uh... well, I've been requested to attend the peace negotiations," Drake responded, trying to keep cool.

"YOU, WHAT? OH, NO. YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE ALREADY, GET BACK-"

"Bridget, give me that." Commander Mclarrin was suddenly cut off. "Drake, it's your father," Manfred said, replacing Mclarrin on the radio. "Are you certain you know what you're doing?"

"I do, dad. Don't worry, I won't interfere. I've made friends on both sides, and I just don't want to see them make the same mistakes we did."

"Well, Mclarrin said that if it ends up being a problem for us, you will never again be allowed to return. Are you okay with this?" Drake looked back at the group, who were looking at him with concern.

"I'm sure. I'll contact you with the results as soon as I get back. Drake, out!" Drake turned off the radio, and the drone flew back to Eden.

"I'm sorry. It looks like I dragged you into our problems again," Otome said, while looking down.

"It's okay. Remember what I said when you decided to come to Inkopolis?" Drake said, while putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yeah. That you would stay with me until you got me home."

"And I intend to do that. Besides, can we finally agree that we are all friends here?" Otome looked around, and nodded in response.

"I-I think it's really sweet of you to want to help us too," Callie said.

"Thanks, Callie. Well, should we get going?" Drake responded.

"About that. How do we get to Octoburg?" Marie asked.

Otome pointed to the other side of the valley. "There's a kettle right on top of octo rock. The problem is getting to the other side. We can take the long way and go around, but that means going through Inkling army checkpoints. The fastest way would be through dome fifteen, but that's Mariner territory." Otome glared at Octavio, who was surprisingly relaxed. "My recommendation would be to go through Ceph, but I don't know if the Mariners still patrol the area."

"Agreed, but if that's the case, take the kids with you. They can at least go part of the way." Cuttlefish turned towards the other agents. "Come to thank of it, you seem plenty familiar with my grand-squids, but I think the squiddos should reintroduce themselves. Agents! Front and center!"

Levin walked up first. "Levin Akkoro, Agent 3. I like video games, and my blaster! It's awesome I get to work with a human and a cute Octoling!" Levin's intro was cut short by a whack to the back of the head.

"Shara Taiga, Agent 4. I like.. Ramen? And I guess it's my job to keep certain idiots in line."

Kirk was next. "Kirk Kelpie, Agent 5. I hope we can all be friends."

"Neptune Sireness, Agent 6. Are you going to be my big brother too?"

"Neptune, do you ever get tired of that?" Said the dumbfounded Kirk.

"Only when I'm busy splatting in a turf war," she responded, as the rest of the group laughed.

"Actually, I have a question," Marie said to Drake. "How old are you?"

"I'm twenty one. Why?"

"No reason." For what ever reason, Marie said this with a smirk, and glanced at Callie, but she was didn't notice, and ran to Cuttlefish's side.

"Oh, Gramps! Before I forget, we got you a new phone!" Callie handed him a brand new squid phone.

"Didn't want to resort to telegraphs," Marie said. "After all, we only use the communicator when we're actually in the field."

"Thanks, girls. Been thinking about getting a new one, ever since Octavio broke my last phone," Cuttlefish responded.

"We got phones for you two as well!" Callie handed Drake and Otome a pair of squid phones. Drake powered his up, and was immediately lost on the main screen.

"I don't know if I can use this," Otome said. "I mean, talking is one thing, but I can't read the writing, so just getting it to work will be hard. Never mind text messages. As for him..." Otome looked over to Drake.

"I can't use it at all. Like her, I can't read the writing, but the autotran won't work on a phone, so talking is also out," he said. Marie walked over to show the two how to work the menu.

"Callie and I stayed up thinking of how to solve that. You know about emotes, right?"

"Yeah, our own phones had those," Drake responded.

"Well, we thought of using emotes as a sort of a code system. You guys pay attention too!" Marie called over the other squidbeak agents. "So basically, a smile means meet at the studio, and two means meet at the shack. A frown face means we need help." They spent several minutes coming up with emote codes, and Drake was able to figure out how to work the basic features.

"Okay, now can we finally get going?" Otome asked.

"That would probably be wise," Cuttlefish responded. "Don't know if I'll be seeing you or the human lad again, so take care of yourselves." Otome was unable to respond, due to the conflicting emotions she was being hit with. She turned away, and lead the agents to the kettle that would take them to Ceph. The Inklings shifted to blue to match Levin.

"Make me proud, agents!" Cuttlefish shouted, as the group departed in the kettle, with Otome dragging Drake the whole way. As they emerged, they took a look at their surroundings.

"No matter how many times I come here, I never get used to it," Shara said. "The floating debris, the creepy silence, the fact that a Mariner sniper could be hiding in the buildings..."

"This place looks like a war zone," Drake said.

"That's because it is. One of the worst battles of the great turf war took place here," Shara responded.

"Excuse me, Otome. Why do the Octarians bother coming here at all?" Kirk asked.

"Hell if I know," Otome responded. "Though I did hear rumors that Octavio planned to force the Inklings to live here as well as the domes after reclaiming the surface. Probably another part of his stupid revenge scheme."

"Well, he's not going anywhere. All that remains is to finalize the peace agreement, and he's done!" Said Shara. Otome nodded, and they group started moving through the city. After walking for a few minutes, Marie suddenly told them to stop.

"We're being followed," she said, and pointed to what Drake thought was another amoeba creature.

"It's just a jelly, Marie." Callie turned toward the creature. "Awww, did you get lost little guy?"

"That's no Jelly," Marie responded. "I know that's you, Owen. Come out of there, and get back in your normal form!" The figure emerged form behind the shadows and changed into a bipedal form. He a wore green clothing, and a mask over his face. The exposed parts of his body appeared to be semi-transparent.

"I-is that an Inkling? I could have sworn it was a jelly," Kirk said in surprise.

Marie started explaining to the confused Inklings. "This is Owen. He's a junior private detective, and I've had dealings with him before. As for his looks... well he has an extremely rare skin condition. The outer layer of his skin doesn't form correctly, leaving the inner layer exposed. It serves him well in his line of work because, as you two pointed out, he looks like a jelly in his squid form." The group turned back towards Owen.

"Please don't stare..." Owen said.

"What kind of condition is that? I've never heard of such a thing," said Shara.

"That's because I'm the first case in the last twenty years. Is that a problem?" Owen responded.

"But if you're here, then your partner is..." Marie looked around and spotted another Inkling crouching on a wall. "Get down from there, Jack!" The Inkling jumped down and took position by Owen. "And this would be Owen's partner, Jack."

"Welp, now that we've been discovered, nice to meetcha," Jack said, and walked over to where Drake was. Jack leaned in and took a close look at the human. "I knew you were elder race when I saw you at the old dude's place. Hey, take a look at this!" Jack took out a very old looking revolver.

"Wow, that thing is old. Where did you get that?" Drake asked, and he leaned in for a closer look. Jack pulled the revolver back.

"Touch it, and you die."

"Thanks for letting that slip, Jack. Now we know who told the government about our activities." Marie glared at them with a very annoyed expression.

"W-well, we can't really refuse an order like that," Owen said. "You know how scary our boss can be."

Shara suddenly walked up to them, and glared so hard that Owen retreated a few steps. "Were you the ones who told Gull about Drake?" She asked. It was obvious her anger was about to explode. "We went through a hell of a lot of trouble because of you two!"

"Ah, that was all him," Owen said, and pointed to Jack.

"Would you look at the time? I think I left the pizza oven on back at the office. See yah!" Jack took off running, but his path was blocked by Otome and Neptune, who had sneaked around them during the exchange.

"Where yah going, little guy?" Neptune said with a devilish grin.

"I assume you don't want to be known as a couple of squids that made the squid sisters angry, do you?" Marie said, with her signature smirk.

"O-of course we don't!" Jack responded.

"Good, because I'm willing to let this go. IF you do me a little favor, of course." Marie leaned in closer, and whispered something to the two Inklings.

"W-we can't do that! We could get arrested if they find out!" Owen yelled.

"Aw, that's too bad. I guess my friend Shara, will have to show you just how disappointed we are that you didn't take my generous offer."

"W-wait! We'll do it!" Jack responded.

"Good. I expect that they will come for him first thing in the morning, so keep an eye on him and call me if anything happens," Marie said. The two ran off towards the kettle.

"You're evil sometimes," Callie chimed in. "Anyway, what did you ask them to do?"

"Just to keep an eye on Octavio."

"What? Why? Gramps is already doing that."

"Callie, did you actually read the peace agreement? The Octarians are allowing the Inklings to officially arrest Octavio. I just want to make sure nothing happens until he's locked away for good."

"That's a good point," Otome said. "What he said the other day has been bothering me."

"My thought's exactly. Otome, can you take the lead again? We still got a ways to go before we reach the kettle to Octoburg."

…

In Octoburg, a male Octoling was sitting at his desk, when he heard a knock at the door. After signaling them to enter, he looked up as a pair of Octoling elites entered the room. It was his twin body guards. The female was Typhoon, and the male was Vortex.

"Major Octarias, we brought the new recruits and their files that you asked for," Vortex said, and handed the files to Octarias.

"Good, bring them in," he responded. Vortex saluted, and left the room.

"Sir, are you still worried about.. her?" Typhoon said.

"Well, she is my fiancee after all. Why shouldn't I be?"

"But she's made it quite clear that she doesn't value our traditions. She's just going to keep blowing you off."

"She'll come around eventually. Besides, getting the peace treaty signed is more important right now."

"Sir, Octarias, you could have any woman you want! Why settle for someone who is beneath you and doesn't intend to honor the arrangement!"

"I'm not going to have this discussion with you again, Typhoon. I appreciate your concern, but this isn't up to you."

"Y-yes, sir! Sorry." Another knock at the door interrupted them. Vortex returned with another Octoling in tow.

"You two, wait outside," Octarias said, and the two nodded in response. As the body guards left, Typhoon gave the recruit a sharp glance. The recruit sat down in front of the desk, and Octarias glanced over her file.

"So, Briki, It says here that you were once a Mariner, and that you deserted them. Is that true?"

"I-it is, sir. My sister and I, never wanted to be soldiers in the first place. They forced us to join the day we were able to control our transformations."

"Well, everyone has to serve at some point. Even us male Octolings are getting drafted these days, but it's too bad you ended up with them instead of the Guardian Corps. Anyway, how did you get away from the Mariners?"

Briki looked around uncomfortably before continuing. "I was part of the attack on Kelp Dome. The cowardly act of poisoning food was the last straw for me, and I managed to slip away from the group. Then out of nowhere, this Inkling, I think he went by Agent 3, starts attacking the other four in my squad. He managed to take down three of the four with out splatting them. He even de-splatted the leader, who almost killed him! I saw more mercy from a single squid than I did from the entire Mariner force!"

"Is that why you and your sister have been living at Inkopolis for the last few days?" Octarias said.

"H-how did you know that!" Briki yelled.

"Calm down, private! If there's one thing the Guardian Corps has over the Mariners, it's our ability to gather information. I had all that on you're file, but I wanted to hear it from your mouth."

"S-sorry sir, but I don't want my sister dragged into this. That's why I made the decision to return."

"Well, Briki, I'm sure Vortex already briefed you on the current situation with Inkopolis. I have an assignment for you, that I think you will be perfect for. If you do your duty to the Corps, I'll allow the both of you to remain in Inkopolis."

"Really! Thank you so much, Sir!" Briki beamed a smile at Octarias.

"Don't thank me yet, kid. I'll give you the details with the rest of the team, but I need to interview the other recruits first. Go wait outside, and send the next one in."

"Yes, sir!" Briki enthusiastically replied. As she left, Octarias sat back down, and turned his attention back to the files.

'I guess even these misfits can be useful sometimes.'

…

"So what the heck is that?" Levin and the others were taking cover near a ruined building, and were watching a large group of Octarians. In the center of the group, was a large robot that was pouring out purple ink to block off the main road. Surrounding the robot, was a flight of Octocopters, and Octobombers. There were also a number of Octotroopers on the ground, as well as Octoballs.

"Cuttlefish would probably know, but I still can't get through to him," Shara responded.

"Then it's a good thing you have me with you," Otome said, and the group turned to her. "It's called a flooder, and it's damn near indestructible." The group turned back to look at the robot.

"So how do we kill it?" Levin asked.

"You have to get on top of it, and throw a bomb down the maintenance hatch, which is hard enough to do when you aren't being shot at by the escorts. Also, you see that antenna on top of it? That's what's been disrupting the communicators for the last few days. The Mariners must have stuck a jamming device to the top of the damned thing."

Marie stood up, and walked to the front of the group. "Okay, since we can't get a hold of gramps, I'm taking charge of this. Callie, Kirk, Neptune, you guys go after the ground forces. Levin, Shara, and myself, will go after the airborne targets. Otome, you deal with the flooder, and Drake stays back and covers us from here." Otome nodded, and dropped another tampering capsule into her ink tank.

"Just make sure to get the Octocopters first. Otherwise they will go get reinforcements," Otome said, and the group moved in to engage the Octarians. Keeping their distance from the Octotroopers, they made a circle of blue ink around the edges of the large purple pool the flooder had created. Noticing the new ink lines, one of the Octocopters moved in to investigate. As soon as he was close enough, Levin popped out of the ink, and blasted the Octocopter dead center.

"Ink stains on our six! We're under att- GWHAA!" Another Octocopter shouted to warn the others, but Shara emerged on his side, and took him out with a burst from her pro. A shot from Marie's charger took down a third Octocopter.

"Get back, and call for reinforcements!" A bomber yelled to the last remaining Octocopter. As he attempted to move out of range, Marie followed him with her charger. Just as he was about to get away, she fired a shot, and brought him down. The Octocopter hit the ground, and burst into a puddle of blue ink.

"Damn it! We're on our own, guys!" A Twintacle that appeared to be the leader said. "Ground forces, move in! Bomber squad, cover them!" The Octoballs moved in first, and three of them made a line straight for Kirk. He quickly charged his splatling, and used his rapid rate of fire to slow them all down and halt their advance. Callie immediately rushed in, and literally rolled the Octoballs over.

"Thanks, Callie!" Kirk yelled, and she responded with a grin. "Wait, where's Neptune?"

"I thought she was with you!" Callie replied. Suddenly, after several loud cracks, an Octobomber fell dead, right next to where they were standing. They looked over, and saw Drake making a cover gesture with his hands and pointed towards Otome.

"Troopers! Defensive formation! They're going for the flooder." A number of Octotroopers moved in to guard the flooder, and began taking shots at Otome. "Bomber squad! Take out that snipe- AGGGH!" Neptune suddenly jumped out of an ink trail she made during the confusion, and managed to kill the lead Twintacle with her gal.

"Neptune saves the day again! Breath easy, guys," she said, and dove back into the ink to avoid the angry Octobombers.

"Shara! Move in with Kirk, and thin out those Octotroopers! We can't let the flooder escape!" Marie yelled.

Shara dove into the trail that Kirk quickly made with his splatling, and moved towards the Octotroopers that were blocking Otome from jumping. As Kirk unloaded on the troopers nearest her, Shara swam around, and eliminated several Octoballs that were trying to charge down Otome. An ink ball few past Shara's head, and an Octobomber dropped down to her right.

"Thanks, Levin!" Shara yelled. "Otome, you're all clear to-"

"Shara, look out!" She looked to where Levin was pointing, and saw that the flooder had started barreling down on her. As she dove out of the way, one of the flooder's ocular sensors suddenly shattered, thanks to a well placed shot from Drake's rifle.

"Otome, it's now or never!" Marie yelled. As the agent's began moping up the remaining Octarians, Otome launched herself onto the top of the Flooder. She bashed the lock on the maintenance hatch several times with her octoshot, causing it to break free.

As she opened the hatch she heard Drake yell, "Catch!" Otome reached out, and caught the grenade Drake tossed her. "Pull the pin, toss it in, and run like hell!" He yelled. Otome tossed in the grenade and jumped off the Flooder. A few seconds later, the flooder went up into a spectacular fire ball.

"Everyone all right? Anyone get dead?" Neptune yelled, as she came out of the ink.

"Well, my arm is a bit numb, but I think everyone is okay," Kirk responded, as he rubbed his right arm.

Marie switched on her communicator, and tried to get int touch with cuttlefish. "Gramps, can you hear me?"

"Agent 2? When did the … start working again?" There was noticeable static and voice cut outs, but it appeared that some of the jamming had been cleared due to the destruction of the flooder.

"Octarians placed a jamming device on a flooder. We destroyed one, but there might be another one somewhere," Marie said.

"On a flooder … say? Crafty … buggers. Do you think … can make it … Octoburg by yourselves?" Cuttlefish responded, still cutting out.

"I think so, why?"

"Send … others back. I want to … that other flooder. We ... get the … working again"

Marie looked around to the other agents, and Levin nodded to her. "We got this! Now that we know what to do, those flooders don't stand a chance."

"Levin, I swear, you don't learn," Shara said, and walked up to Drake. "But if we're going to do this, can I borrow one of those... capsule things?"

Drake looked back at her with an expression of concern, then sighed. "I really don't think that's a good idea, but..." Drake unhooked a grenade, and handed it to her. "Be extremely careful with that. DO NOT pull the pin until you are ready to throw it."

"I'm guessing the other flooder is somewhere closer to the Inkopolis," Otome said. "If I know the Mariners, your best bet is the forest." The other agents started making their way back to the kettle they used to enter Ceph.

"By the way, I saw something in the building over there," Neptune said, and pointed to a window on the third floor.

"Good eyes, Neptune! Think we should check it out before continuing?" Callie asked

"I think so. It could be a Mariner spy," Marie responded. Before splitting up, Kirk turned back to the squid sisters.

"Good luck, guys. I know you can do it!" He yelled, and ran off to catch up with the other agents.

The squid sisters, along with Drake and Otome, entered the building, and made their way to the third floor. The inside of the building was ruined, and rubble and fungus covered the hallways. It reminded Drake of the launch bay back at the Eden facility. As they neared the area that Neptune pointed to, they raised their weapons and slowed their pace. Callie slowly opened the door to the next room and entered first, followed by Otome. Drake and Marie covered the rear. The inside of the room was cleaner than the rest of the building, and showed signs of recent habitation.

"Someone has definitely been living here," Marie said. As soon as those words were spoken A figure suddenly jumped out from the shadows, and lunged at Otome. She jumped back, and they both pointed their weapons at each other. Then, just as suddenly, they lowered them.

"Otome?" The figure said.

"What the- KELLY?!" Otome yelled in response. While it seemed like an eternity, several seconds passed as they stared at each other. Then, Otome rushed to the Octoling elite, and the two shared an embrace. "I don't believe it! I thought I would never see you again!"

"My thought's exactly, Otome," Kelly responded, as the two separated. "When I finally managed to deal with those damned sharks, I came back and saw that you disappeared. I thought you had been captured."

Otome turned, and glanced at Drake. "Well, um... he saved me. And those two have been letting us stay at their place."

Kelly took a close look at Drake, then at the squid sisters. She then lowered her head into a bow. "My name is Lieutenant Kelly Scylls. Thank you for taking care of my subordinate and friend."

"It was nothing," Drake responded. "We, uh, just wanted to help."

Kelly raised her head, and looked at Otome. "Not a bad catch, girl. Never pictured you with an Inkling," she said, mistaking Drake for an Inkling.

"Not you too," Otome responded. "We aren't like that."

"Yeah, for now maybe," Kelly said with a smirk. "But enough of that. What's the situation with Inkopolis? I haven't been able to get through to the commander, thanks to those Mariner jammers."

"Our governments have been working behind our backs, it seems. They've already drafted a peace treaty, and we're heading to Octoburg to finalize it."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Kelly said with excitement.

"That isn't all of it." Otome's expression changed to one of glee. "Those other Inklings we were with, captured Octavio."

"What? Seriously? Maybe now we will finally have another chance at co-existence. Still, they shouldn't be keeping that bastard alive! I would have turned him into a land shark meal."

"Geez, I think you hate him more than most of the Inklings," Callie said.

"Yeah, you never told me why you personally hate him so much," Otome added.

Kelly looked around for a minute, before responding. "I guess it's time I told you the truth." Kelly started to remove her goggles, which was a first for Otome. She had never seen Kelly with out them, as she always showered and slept alone. As the goggles were removed, Otome's eyes widened. Kelly's eyes were shaped and colored similar to a normal Octoling, but instead of a purple ring, her eyes had a black mask that met in the middle.

"Y-you're an Inkling?" Otome said, and the whole group was stunned.

"Half inkling, actually," Kelly responded. "My father was an Inkling. My mother met him during her days in the army. They never told me the details, but I guess it was during a patrol."

"I didn't even know that was possible," Marie said, who could barely keep calm.

"Well, I'm living proof, aren't I? Anyway, we used to live in one of the agricultural domes. My father was a hard worker, so most of the other Octarians didn't bother us much. But one day, Octavio came through with a battalion of Mariners. Naturally, he wasn't too happy when he found us out. My mother begged him to spare us. He agreed, but only if she would join the Mariners, since he knew she was once a respected officer in the Guardian Corps"

"S-so what happened?" Callie asked.

"After a few months, my mother ended up taking her own life. She couldn't go through with hurting my father's people. As for my dad, he ended up being exiled from Octoburg, and they left him at one of the worst parts of Octovalley. I was later sent to military school, where Octavio hoped he could... re-educate me."

"That... that's horrible!" Otome yelled, "I'm so sorry! I never knew!"

"Thanks, Otome," Kelly responded, and put her goggles back on. "But that's why Octavio can't be allowed to drag us into another war! Who knows how many more families on either side will be destroyed."

"We'll stop this. I promise we will," Marie said.

"I'd love to catch up, Otome, but it sounds like you'd better get moving."

"Oh! Why don't you come with us? The more, the merrier!" Callie said, who excited to have made a new friend.

"I would, but I want to stay here and keep an eye on Mariner movements for a while. Can you inform the commander of the situation?"

"Sure, Kelly. But be careful. I think there's a traitor at HQ." As the group turned to leave, Kelly suddenly spoke up again.

"Wait! I almost forgot." She rifled through her equipment bag, before pulling out a small necklace. In the middle of the necklace, was a small pendant with a pearl embedded in it. "It's a day late, but happy 18th birthday!"

Otome stared in shock, as Kelly handed her the necklace. "Y-you remembered? Thank you so much! I completely forgot with everything going on!" The two shared another embrace, while Drake and the squid sisters joined in on wishing her a happy birthday.

"Alright, now get outta here and get that peace treaty singed! That's an order, corporal!"

"I-it's Sargent now, but I'll do my best, ma'am!" The group left the waving Octoling elite behind, and continued the final part of the journey to Octoburg.

The next hour was uneventful, but they eventually reached the kettle that would take them out of Ceph, and to the opposite side of Octovalley. After coming out of the kettle, they took a break so Drake could recover, as he was clearly fighting the urge to vomit.

"Drake, are you going to be okay?" Callie asked.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that ride," Drake responded, "But I think I'm okay now."

Otome walked over to the final kettle that would take them into the heart of the Octarian homeland. "I'll do my best to keep you safe, but I can't promise anything. If anyone wants to back out... well, now is the time." The group exchanged glances, but said nothing. "Then let's get going," she said, and they were shot towards the Octarian capital.

**A/N: OC credit for this chapter:**

**Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon animo**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Vortex and Typhoon – Vortextion – Fanfiction net**


	19. 2.9 - Homecoming part 2

"This is the Octarian capital? It's huge!" Callie was looking around in awe at the sheer size of the city in dome 2. Octoburg itself didn't compare to Inkopolis in size, but the fact that such a city was built underground was amazing to them. The architecture of the buildings was considerably different. Many of them had a more metallic look and an orderly feel. There were many Octarians roaming the streets, from the lowly Octotrooper, to Octoling elites. Lining the walls of the underground city, were a number of large screens showing various scenery of the surface world.

"I guess that's an understandable reaction if all you've seen is what's left of Ceph or the outer domes," Otome said. "Octoburg may be an underground shelter we threw together, but it's still our home. Anyway, we need to get clearance at the checkpoint. Follow me, and stay close."

In the direction that Otome was heading, there was a large gate next to a small shack. The gate was guarded by several Octotroopers, and an Octosniper was perched on the catwalk above. They nervously glanced at the Inklings, but made no hostile gestures. The group walked up to the shack, and Otome began talking with the Octoling guard.

"Afternoon, Kiri. I've brought the Inkling delegation as ordered," Otome said.

"Would you look at this?! If it isn't Otome! Back from the dead are you? Guess that means I lost the bet with Okina," Kiri said.

"I'm not even going to ask what that's supposed to mean," Otome responded with clear irritation. "Look, we're on official business. You mind clearing us already?"

"Yeah, but you know the drill. I'll have to call it in first, and I need those three to surrender their weapons. You can keep the ink tanks, but empty them out and switch them off." The squid sisters did as they were told, and handed over their charger and roller. When it was Drake's turn, he handed over the rifle, but held on to his handgun and remaining grenades. While they were waiting for the Octoling to clear them, a large Monitor on the far side of the main road switched on, and a pair of Octolings were displayed on the screen.

"Hold on to your suction pods!" The first one said.

"It's time for a special Octoburg newscast!" Said the other.

"It looks like we can all breath a sigh of relief soon. We just got word that the Inkling diplomats will be arriving today, and the war will finally be over for good!"

"Yeah! so take that, yah Mariner jerks!" Both Octolings stuck their tongues out at the camera, and pulled down on the lower parts of their eyes.

"But hey, maybe we'll start seeing some Inkling cuties before too long!"

"You really need to get a boyfriend." The one on the right said with a sigh.

"Oh! Speaking of boys, we hear a special guest will arrive with the Inklings. You all ready for this?"

"The suspense is killing me!" By now, most of the Octarians were glued to the screen.

"It's a real live elder race man! Invited by Emperor Octurus himself!"

"Pretty wild, huh? Well, girls, remember to control yourselves. We want to leave a good impression on this guy from the past. At least until the peace treaty is signed," Both of them grinned with a look that sent an involuntary shiver down Drake's spine, despite not knowing what they were saying.

"That's all for now! Stay Sharp!" The two Octolings struck a pose that was a blatant rip off of the squid sisters, and the monitor switched off. Callie and Marie stared in disbelief, as they waited for Otome to translate for Drake.

"Was that... supposed to be... us?" Marie managed to get out.

"Unfortunately, they are," Otome responded. "I was hoping you wouldn't see the octo sisters." She paused for a moment, and buried her face in her palm. "They never really caught on like you two did."

"Do they sing too? Their voices sounded nice," Drake asked.

"Actually, they do. The sad part is, they are pretty good at it, and their talents are wasted doing this routine. If the network would let them do their own thing, they would probably be a lot more popular," Otome responded.

"So... what are their names?" Callie asked.

"I would rather not say," Otome responded with a red face. She turned back towards the shack. "Hey, Kiri! You about done in there?"

"Yeah, you guys are clear. Kirel said he would meet you buy that tree just inside the gate, so don't go anywhere." Kiri hit a button, and the gate opened.

As they stepped inside, a sudden 'whoosh' behind them made the group jump. A squad of Octolings had returned from a patrol, and the pressure from the transport kettle created a gust of wind that knocked off everybody's head gear. They quickly recovered their equipment, but it was too late. Half the Octarians in the area were already staring at them. Those that weren't already, soon followed when the Octosniper yelled, "It's the squid sisters!" This rapidly became a Deja vu situation for the group.

Callie and Marie soon found themselves surrounded by a large group of Octarian regulars, and a number of male Octolings. The two idols were awkwardly trying to cope with their mixed feelings on this, as they were being bombarded with statements of adoration, and requests to sign autographs. Drake, on the other hand, was surrounded by the remaining female Octolings. Many of them were asking questions that ranged from inquiries about his race, to things that were much more personal. Otome was desperately trying to push through the crowd to reach her companions. "Dammit, guys! Get away from them. Drake, you okay? Are Callie and Marie still with you?"

"Looks like you got it tough, Otome," Kiri said from the guard post. "I would help, but this lowly guard has to stay put."

"Shut up, Kiri!" Otome snapped. She was still pushing through the crowed, when a loud voice made everybody shut up.

"This is the Guardian Corps military police! Everyone back away from the Inklings!" The crowd did is they were told, and Otome was finally able to make her way to the squid sisters.

"You guys alright?" A male Octoling said, as he approached with several escorts.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Kirel," Otome responded.

"That's good. I was told to bring you guys to headquarters before the meeting starts. I'll take you to... wait a minute, what happened to the elder race guy?" Everybody looked around for signs of Drake, but he had completely disappeared.

"Dammit! What now? Wait here, I'll go look for him." Otome took off running. Her search didn't take long, and she soon spotted the human.

"Well, what do you think?" Several Octoling elites had dragged Drake to an outdoor bar, and were having him sample various snacks.

"It's not bad. I don't know why Otome hates Octarian food so much," Drake responded, as he munched on what looked like a sea food version of nachos. "Still, I would say Inkopolis wins the food award."

"Forget about them! Come on, have another, big guy!" The Octolings passed Drake another dish, which he sampled with out hesitation. This one appeared to be similar to kettle corn.

"Really, thanks for the food but I need to get back to the others. They are probably looking for me already," Drake said.

"Aw, don't be like that. Here, have a drink!" The Octoling elite passed him what looked like a beer.

"Is that alcohol? Sorry, but I don't drink."

"You got time for just one drink, right?" The Octolings were leaning in closer, and Drake finally realized why they were being so enthusiastic.

"You know, this is the first time someone has used pick up tactics on me," he said with an expression of ambivalence. A few of the elites looked embarrassed, but one of them was not ready to give up.

"All the more reason why a tough guy like you should have a little fun with-" She suddenly yelped, as her head was pulled back. Otome had pulled on the elite's tentacles, and was glaring at her.

"I think he will be just fine with out you idiots bothering him," Otome said.

"Beat it, girl! The adults are talking," The Octoling elite snapped.

"No, really. You need to back off. We are already late-"

"Are you still yapping? Why would he want to go with some underdeveloped brat, when he could be with a real woman?" This infuriated Otome, and she was about to jump the Octoling elite, when Drake took her hold of her hand.

"For starters, her boyfriend doesn't appreciate it when she is insulted. Another reason is we both have an appointment with your Emperor."

The Color drained from the Octoling's face. "What the... How did she... but.." She stuttered, and the two turned to leave the bar. On the way out, Otome turned and used her free hand to make a very rude gesture.

After getting out of sight of the bar, Drake let go of her hand, and Otome spoke up. "That was pretty quick thinking, Drake. Did you see the look on their faces?"

"Right?. But believe it or not, I had to use that trick for another friend of mine back in high school," Drake said with a smirk. "But I never thought I would be on the other end of that sort of thing." The two laughed to themselves, as they made their way back to where the others were waiting.

"Otome! Are you okay? Where did you two run off too?" Kirel ran up to them when he saw them approach.

"We're fine. Just had to deal with a couple of tramps. I swear, some people have no self control."

"R-really? Is Drake okay? You didn't get into another fight, did you?" Callie looked at Drake with concern.

"Oh, he's fine. You should have seen him. He totally put that idiot in her place," Otome said.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Marie said.

"Well actually, he-" Otome immediately stopped talking when she realized what she was about to say, and her face went red. "Actually, uh, shouldn't we get going?"

"Ohoh, so suspicious," Marie said with her usual smirk. At that moment, they heard a loud voice and a series of rapidly approaching footsteps behind them.

"OOOOOTTTTOOOOMMMMEEEEEE!" An Octoling suddenly ran up, and pounced on Otome. The others just stood and watched, as Otome tried to pry off the young Octoling.

"Yako? Shouldn't you still be in basic training?" Otome said to the Octoling that was clinging to her.

"Our class graduated yesterday. I heard you were returning today, so I rushed here to see you!"

"W-what? Then why aren't you at your post?!"

"They haven't even assigned me to a squad yet! A-aren't you happy to see me?" Yako looked at Otome with puppy dog eyes. Otome sighed, and hugged her back.

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you. I just worry about you, yah know?" Otome looked towards the confused squids and human. "Meet my little sister, Yako. She acts younger than she is, but she's fifteen."

"You have a little sister? D'aw, she's adorable!" Callie said, and Yako looked at her.

"Oh! Are they the squids from the news? Cool!" Yako walked up to the squid sisters. "I always wanted to see one of you guys up close. Nice to meet yah!" Callie excitedly shook her hand, while Marie observed in silence. Yako then turned to Drake. "So that must mean you're the elder race guy. I read about you all in school."

Since it had become public knowledge that a human was in the city, Drake saw no reason to hide it. "Y-yeah, I'm Drake. I'm pretty good friends with your sister, so it's nice to meet you, Yako." Yako walked over to Drake, and embraced him the same way she did with Otome. "Whoa! You're a friendly one, aren't you?" Drake said, unsure of how to take the situation.

"Anybody who protects my sister from those bullies must be a good guy!" She said, and looked up at him. It took Drake a minute to realize that she was talking about the fight back in Inkopolis.

"Wait, you saw that?" Drake asked, completely stunned. He knew the fight was broadcast to the Eden facility, but he didn't know the Octarians had received it as well. That explained why they were able to figure him out so quickly.

"Yep! I was so mad when the squid sisters were interrupted, but seeing you teach that jerk a lesson made me super happy!" Yako returned to hugging him, and Drake patted the top of her head, which made her go "ehehe".

"Hey, I'm here too!" Kirel said, and Yako let go of Drake.

"Oh, it's Kirel. So you are." Kirel looked crushed, and Otome just said "Forget it, Kirel".

"Um, so anyway, Guardian HQ is just up ahead. We're already running late, so can you guys follow me?" Kirel said, and the group finally got back on track. As they entered the building that served as the main base for the organization Otome was apart of, Kirel walked over to the front desk, and started talking to the Octoling on duty.

"Sargent Kako, I brought Sargent Otome and the others as ordered."

"You took your time," Kako looked up and glanced at the group. "Commander Ophelia wants to debrief you in private. I guess the others can wait here." Kako got up and lead Otome to a door on the other side of her desk. She took her key card out, and unlocked it.

"Why are we not meeting in her office?" Otome asked.

"How should I know? Just head down that hall. The commander said she will be waiting in the first room on the left."

Otome turned towards the group. "I guess I'll be back in a bit, but knowing Ophelia, this might take a while."

"Hey, Otome. I have to get back to my post, but if you have time after the conference, do you want to catch up a bit? We haven't played a board game in a while," Kirel said.

"I guess so. Though, that depends on if I'm reassigned, or given some SS punishment duty by the commander. Well, see you later, Kirel." Otome left the room, and Kako locked the door behind her. Kirel and Yako also left the room, and the Drake sat down with the squid sisters to wait for Otome. Drake started working on his data pad, while Callie sat next to him and watched. Marie was flipping through an Octarian magazine to pass the time.

"She sure has been gone a while," Callie said, after some time had passed.

"Probably just army red tape," Marie responded. "They never keep things simple, unlike gramps."

More time passed, and having finished his journal entry, Drake was watching Callie play a game on his pad while she leaned on his shoulder. Marie was listening to music on her squid phone and leaned her head back. eventually, their phones vibrated, and they all took them out to see the new message. It was from Otome, and the emote code for help was displayed.

"Why is she asking for help at her own base? Did she use the wrong code?" Callie asked.

"I don't think so. Otome really isn't the type to make that kind of mistake," Drake responded. "Something bad must have happened."

The group looked over at Kako, who was sitting at her desk. "Well, we need to get past her if we want to find out," Marie said.

"Do you think you can distract her for a bit?" Drake asked, and the two nodded in response. Marie walked over, and began chatting with the Octoling.

"So, I hear the squid sisters are big around here?" She asked.

"I guess, but I really don't pay attention to that. I don't see why everybody fawns over a some haughty squid girls," Kako responded, not realizing that she was talking to Marie in disguise.

"Well, what about those two I saw on the news report?"

"Oh, please! Those two idiots couldn't even tell you the time of-" Her speech was cut off, thanks to a pistol whip to the head from Drake. As she fell unconscious, Drake moved her body under the desk, and took her key card and Octoshot. He tossed the weapon to Callie, who hooked it up to her now active ink tank. Drake swiped the card into the reader, and the door unlocked.

"If we get caught, this could seriously damage the peace negotiation. If you two want to back out, I'll understand," Drake said, as he readied his handgun.

"Are you kidding? I finally got Otome to accept me! I'm not going to leave my friend behind!" Callie exclaimed.

"If she's in, I am too. Lead the way, Drake," Marie added. Drake nodded in response, and the three entered the hall way. The hall seemed clear, and at the far end, there were two doors. The first was locked with a combination lock, and the other was open. Drake peered inside the open room, and saw a lone Octoling staring at a glass divider.

"Only one Octoling. Do you think you can lure her out?" Drake whispered to Marie. She took out her squid phone, and played a song from a popular boy band on low volume. This managed to get the Octolings attention, and she slowly left the room with her weapon raised. As she turned towards the squid sisters, Drake grabbed her from behind, and put her into a choke hold. Callie kept the Octoshot aimed at her, as the Octoling tried to break free. Eventually, she passed out, and Drake dragged the unconscious female into the room. Marie picked up the Octoshot, and followed Drake inside with Callie in tow.

Inside the room, there were a number of monitors and computers. On the far left was a glass divider that appeared to serve as a one way mirror. On the other side, was Otome and three other Octolings. She was tied to a chair, and was being questioned by an Octoling elite. "What's going on here? Why as she being treated this way by her own people?" Callie asked.

"I don't know, but we need to put a stop to it," Drake responded, as the elite struck Otome with the back of her hand.

"But how do we get past the combination lock? I don't see any notes with the code," Marie said. "And we don't have time to dig through the computers."

"I know a way. follow me." Drake lead the others out of the room, and they stopped at the locked door. Drake took an explosive breaching charge out of his side pack, and stuck it to the door, just over the lock.

"I'm going to have to blow the door open. There's no way to do this quietly, so our chances of getting out of here unnoticed are pretty low. This is your last chance to back out." The squid sisters shook their heads in response, and Drake handed Marie a grenade. "As soon as I blow the door, pull the pin and toss that inside."

"Wait! Won't that hurt Otome?" Callie said with alarm.

"It's a non-lethal grenade. As soon as it goes off, rush in and try to knock them out with out killing them. Only fire if you absolutely have to, as this will be a lot easier to explain if we don't have blood on our hands. You ready?" The squid sisters nodded in responds, and Drake gripped the detonator. "You might want to cover your ears and look away."

Drake fired off the detonator, and the charge exploded, causing the door to be blown inward. Marie threw the flash-bang inside the room, which let let out a bright flash and loud noise. The three immediately rushed inside the room. "What the hell was that?" An Octoling yelled. "My eyes!" Screamed another. Callie and Marie used their Octoshots to bash the heads of the two near the door. Drake went to help Otome, but the Elite had somehow survived the effects of the flash-bang. She stood behind Otome, and held her knife to Otome's throat. Drake pointed his handgun at her.

"Stop right there! Put your weapons down, or she gets it!" She yelled.

"Don't listen to her!" Otome said. "Ophelia is just a dirty traitor! Shoot her, Drake!"

"Put the knife down," Drake said, trying to stay calm. "There's only one way out of this. If you even scratch her with that, I swear I will take your life!"

"Ha! You don't scare me with your fossil weapon," Ophelia responded with a smug look. "What would happen if you were to hit her instead, hm?"

"I-I can't get an angle on her!" Callie said, while pointing the stolen Octoshot at Ophelia and Otome.

"Just do it, Drake!" Otome yelled.

"I think that's enough out of you!" Ophelia took the knife and pointed the tip to Otome's neck. Drake fired the handgun at Otome's arm. The shot passed through Otome, and hit Ophelia in the side of her shoulder. Both Octolings yelled in pain, and Ophelia fell backwards. Drake jumped on her, and pinned her down.

"Drake, are you insane!" Marie yelled as she cut Otome free from the eel binder.

"It was the only place to aim for with out risking hitting a vital spot on either of them," he yelled back as he struggled to restrain Ophelia. "Sorry, Otome. I had no choice."

"It's... fine... I'll be... okay in... a bit." Otome said through gritted teeth. Callie went to treat her arm, but like the time Drake shot Marie, the wound had already started closing. They suddenly heard footsteps rushing towards the room.

"Ah, crap! We're too late!" Marie grabbed the chair and wedged it between the floor and what was left of the door handle. Immediately after, the approaching Octolings started banging furiously on the door.

"This is Major Octarias, Guardian Corps commando unit! What the hell is going on in there? Open this door right now!" The banging on the door intensified. "Open the door, or we'll open it for you!"

"Do what he says," Otome said, who had gotten over most of the pain from being shot. The group gave her a questioning look, and she walked over to the door. "Octarias? It's Otome. We're coming out, so don't shoot!"

…

Jack and Owen were watching Octavio from the shadows. He showed no signs of attempting to escape, and the Inkling officials wouldn't take him into custody until tomorrow.

"Man, I'm bored!" Jack whined, as they continued to watch Octavio.

"Well, what did you expect? You got us into this situation, so don't complain to me," Owen responded.

"Yeah, but come on, man! We've been here for hours! I'm getting hungry!"

"You got the motorbike, why don't you get us a pizza or something?"

"Good idea. You want the usual?" Owen nodded, and Jack took off on the motor bike.

"He should be grateful nothing has happened," Owen said to himself. "If we screw up, the squid sisters will totally hate us. That's worse than fighting the Octarians."

…

"Otome, your luck astonishes me sometimes." Major Octarias had just finished questioning Otome, while his body guards restrained the traitor, Ophelia. The other Octoling commandos had already taken her subordinates into custody. "I never thought the traitor would be her, though."

"Ha! You think this ends just because Octavio was captured? You think you're safe just because the Mariners are disorganized? Well I got news for you! We aren't the only ones who want to see Octoburg and Inkopolis at each others throats." Commander Ophelia remained defiant, despite the fact that Vortex had her hands secure, and Typhoon was pressing an Octobrush against her side.

"And just who might you be referring too?" Octarias asked with a glare.

"Like I would tell you! Death to the Emperor!" Ophelia bit down on something, and her body shook for several seconds, then went limp and lifeless.

"Shit! She must have kept a poison capsule on standby for the possibility of this happening. Sorry, sir," Vortex said, as he let her body drop.

"It's her fault Kira and Okha died! That was way too easy for her," Otome said, as she kicked Ophelia's body.

"That's enough, Otome. I know you're all shaken right now, but it's time for the meeting with father."

The expression on Marie's face turned to shock. "F-father? Does that mean he is..."

"The son of Emperor Octurus? That I am. Though I am not my father, so just keep it as Major Octarias for now. Until I succeed him, my place is with the Guardian Corps commando team."

"So show him some respect!" Typhoon barked, as the Octoling commandos lead the group out of Guardian Corps HQ, and into an armored van.

"It's a twenty minute drive from here to the capital building," Octarias said, as the van got underway. "Otome, have you thought about our future yet?"

"Octarias, can we not do that here? Not in front of them."

"I see no reason to hide it. There's nothing shameful about marriage," Octarias responded.

"Wait, what? Otome is getting married!?" Said the shocked Callie.

"No, Otome is not getting married, Callie." Otome responded. "It was arranged by our parents. I'm sorry, Octarias, but my decision hasn't changed. I never have, and never will feel that way about you. It's nothing personal. That's just how it is, and I won't bind myself to traditions."

"Octarias has been more than patient with you! How much longer are you going to be a brat, and insult him?" Typhoon roared.

"Sis, you need to back off!" Vortex said, as he held her back. "This is between those two. It's not our place to interfere."

"This is why I joined the Mariners in the first place," Otome said with a sigh. "Dealing with this makes it so much easier to fall for Octavio's lies." The squid sisters watched them awkwardly, and Drake chose to remain silent. After a few minutes, the van pulled up to the capital building , and the commandos escorted the group inside.

As they got off the elevator on the top floor, Octarias lead them to a large set of doors. The rest of the commando team took position outside the room, as Octarias, his body guards, and the crew from Inkopolis stepped inside the meeting room. At the far end of the room, sat the Octoling Emperor. He was much larger than he appeared on screen, and even made Drake look small in comparison. His bulging muscles and battle armor made him look like he could take on the entire Inkling army with his bare hands.

"So the time has finally come," he said in a deep commanding voice. "On behalf of the Octarian people, I welcome you to Octoburg." Octurus motioned for the group to take a seat at the round conference table. Octarias took a seat next to his father, and Callie and Marie sat down on the opposite end. Otome and Drake stood in place, as they were unsure what to do. "Take a seat. I invited the elder race man for a reason, and I think Sargent Maroon has earned the right to stay." Otome and Drake did as they were told, and sat next to Callie. Typhoon and Vortex took position next to the door.

"Has our government provided you with the finalized details of the agreement, sir?" Marie asked as politely as she could. She placed her version of the treaty on the table, with the Inkling Chancellor's signature already on it.

"They have, but let's go over it again so everybody is up to speed," Octurus responded. Marie began reading the details of the treaty for the rest of the group. The Inklings would return some of the zapfish they took, and the Octarians would be allowed to run a power line to Inkopolis tower to tap into the great zapfish. In exchange, any Octarians that committed war crimes, such as Octavio, will be handed over to the Inklings. While it would be limited to small numbers at first, the two races would be allowed to enter each others territories, which would stimulate the economies of both sides. Lastly, both races would share any technology and information regarding the elder race.

"So, is there anything that you need to add, or are we all in agreement here?" Octurus asked, when Marie finished reading. The inklings glanced at each other, unsure how to respond. Octurus took their silence as an affirmation. "Excellent! So begins a new era!" On the bottom of the treaty, there were 7 spots for signatures. 3 for the Octarians, 3 for the Inklings, and one for a third party observer. Octurus stood up, and signed his name on the top Octarian spot. He then handed the treaty to Octarias, who did the same in the next spot. The document was then handed to Otome.

"M-me? I'm no government official!" She said, completely shocked at the responsibility that was just thrust on her.

"Go ahead, young one," Octurus said. "It is thanks to your cool thinking that we avoided a misunderstanding, and exposed the traitor that tried to undermine the peace talks." Otome hesitated, but singed her name on the treaty. When it was their turn, the squid sisters signed their names under that of the Inkling Chancellor. All that remained to end the hostilities between the two races, was the signature of a third party observer.

Octurus picked up the agreement, and placed it in front of Drake. "Would you do me the honor of being our deciding voice?"

"I-I'm just a human, sir. My race is all but extinct, so I don't think I have any say in this."

"Nonsense! I ask you, what better witness could I wish for, then the people who walked the earth before us!"

"We aren't as great as you think we are, sir. But if that is what you wish, I will be glad to help end your war." Drake signed his name in the final slot on the treaty, thus ended the hostilities between Inkopolis and Octoburg.

"Good! I knew I could count on you, Drake Von Kaufmann." Drake and the Inklings stared at Octurus in shock.

"Wait, you can read that?" He asked.

"I forgot to mention that father is one of ten that can read elder race writing," Octarias said. "Now that the politics are out of the way, I think he is going to tell you what I suspect is the real reason he wanted the human to join us."

"Haha! You know me too well, son." Octurus pulled out an old looking box and placed it on the table. "We always found your elder race games to be rather fascinating. Tell me, Drake. Are you any good at Chess?"

…

The agents of squidbeak had spent the last several hours searching for the other Octarian flooder, and their persistence had finally paid off. They tracked the flooder to a clearing in the forest. A squad of Octolings was guarding it, as it covered the surrounding area with purple ink.

"It looks like the Mariners aren't even trying to win anymore," Shara said. "Look how clumsy their movements are."

"I wonder if they realize that it's hopeless for them. I mean their leader has been captured, and we're about to end the war for good," Kirk responded.

"They may not even be aware of that. The Jammar seems to affect them as much as it does us," Shara said.

"So, do we just splat them and grab dinner?" Neptune asked.

"I think... we should ask them to surrender." Kirk said, and the group turned to him.

"Are you serious? When has an Octarian ever surrendered?" Shara responded.

"I'm with Kirk on this," Levin chimed in. "I mean, they look like their already about to drop dead, and we're even, number wise. Maybe they can be reasoned with."

"I think he just wants to do that because they are girls!" Neptune said, which annoyed Shara.

"Fine! But if we are going to do this, then we're doing it my way," Shara said, as she glanced back to the patrolling Octolings. "Ink two trails in the opposite directions, and hide in your squid form. I'll do something to draw their attention, and when they are distracted, pop out on their flanks at the same time." The agents made several ink trails around the large purple pool, and got into position. Shara planted a splat bomb in between the starting points, and quickly swam away. The bomb burst, and the attention of the Octolings was immediately drawn to it.

"Oh, hell! I think the Inklings found us!" The lead elite said. The squad moved in to where the bomb exploded, with their weapons drawn. When they got close, all four agents emerged from the ink at once, and pointed their weapons at the Octolings.

"Surrender!" They all yelled. To everybody's surprise, the Octolings did just that. All four of them dropped their weapons, and yelled "Don't shoot!"

"Wait, what? Did... they actually... give up?" The shocked Neptune asked.

"Kick your weapons over here, and remove your ink tanks!" Shara barked at the Octolings. Doing as they were told, the Octolings were now completely dis-armed. "Now shut that thing down!" She pointed to the still roaming flooder.

"We can't," the elite responded. "Shutting it down or altering its program can only be done by remote, and I doubt our captain will do that. Look, you can do what ever you want to the flooder. We just want to go home!"

"What makes you think you are going anywhere? I'm turning you in to the army. Who knows how many Inklings you have killed," Shara responded.

"W-what? But we haven't done anything!" One of the Octolings yelled. Another started crying, and the third was trying to calm her down.

"Oh, sure. And that isn't a Mariner insignia on your armor?" Shara said.

"Not all of us are blind followers of Octavio," The elite said. "His anti-Inkling policy was well known, but it wasn't until last year that he started to defy Octurus, and use us as his private army. The Mariners were originally the assault forces, while the Guardian Corps were charged with defending our home. You should know that Octavio isn't someone you can just defy!"

"Um, then why are you still here? You know Octavio has been captured, right? Our friends are probably signing the peace treaty as we speak," Kirk said.

"It's not that simple. Most of the officers are loyal to his schemes. We'll be executed if we so much as question his actions."

Shara opened her mouth to say more, but Levin placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook his head. "Let them go," he said. Shara stared for a minute, then nodded in response.

"Ooooh! Looks like big brother is the big man around here," Neptune said with a smirk, which caused Shara to glare.

"Um, agent 6 and I can take them to the Ceph kettle, if you two want to deal with the flooder," Kirk said.

"Y-you would d-do that for u-us?" The sobbing Octoling said.

"Fine, but be careful," Shara responded, and the Octolings left with agents 5 and 6. Shara turned towards the flooder. "So how do we get on top of the thing? We can't squid jump with all these trees around."

After pondering for a minute, Levin got an idea. He went around to the backside of the flooder, and fired a shot in the purple ink pool. "I've got a plan. Hide in the far side of that trail I made, and when I give the signal, hop as high as you can."

"I don't see where you're going with this, but alright." Shara swam to the end of the trail, and Levin moved up behind her. He then aimed the blaster upward towards the flooder.

"Now!" He yelled, and Shara hopped out in squid form. He fired a shot, which burst on her backside. Because they were the same color, the ink ball gave her enough boost to reach the top of the flooder. She grabbed on with her tentacle, and changed to her bipedal form. After bashing the lock open, she tossed the grenade Drake gave her, into the maintenance hatch.

"Wow, those things are powerful! I can see why Drake hesitated to give you one," Levin said, as the flooder went up in a fireball.

"Levin, how did you know that would work?" Shara asked.

"Uh, just a hunch," he responded.

"WHAT? YOU!" Shara's yelling was cut out when Cuttlefish called them on the communicator.

"Agents, have you found the flooder yet?" He asked.

"Already taken care of it, Cap'n" Levin responded.

"Sounds like the communicator is free of jamming. That must have been the only other flooder," Shara said.

"Aye, good work, agents! You're dismissed for the day, so go grab yourselves some dinner! You deserve it," he said.

"Hey, Shara! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling the need for pizza. I'll treat you if you are up to it."

Neptune suddenly cut in on the communicator. "I hope your ready for some punishment if you are planning to leave us out of that!"

"Ah, crap. I forgot the communicator was still on," Levin said, as the two headed back to Inkopolis to await news from the Octoburg team.

**A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:**

**Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Vortex and Typhoon – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Vortex and Typhoon – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net


	20. 2.10 – Homecoming part 3

The occupants of the meeting room had gathered around the far side of the table, and their eyes were locked on to the event that was unfolding in front of them. The Octarian Emperor was engaging the human in a battle of wits. The game of chess had gone back and forth a number of times, and Drake was currently looking for a way out of his current predicament.

"Good to see you didn't fall for Father's trap again," Octarias said, as Drake blocked an offending queen with his last remaining rook. Had he attacked the queen, he would have been exposed to a fatal move from a bishop.

"Octarias, isn't that cheating?" Otome asked, as they continued to watch. Octurus was moving his forces into position for another strike.

"Father hasn't lost a single match at this game. It's time someone ends that streak," he responded. Drake was moving his pieces into defensive positions, while preparing for a sneak attack. Even Vortex and Typhoon had abandoned their posts to watch the game.

"Go, Drake!" Callie said, as he took the enemy bishop with his sneak attack. Unfortunately, Octurus had seen through Drake's plan, and launched a surprise attack of his own, taking Drake's Rook and putting him in checkmate. The game was over, and Octurus had won.

"Well played, human. I haven't had a match like that in quite some time," Octurus said.

"I hate to brag, but before the disaster, I was pretty good player back in my school days," Drake responded. "Though I'm surprised I held out that long, since I haven't played in about three years. That's not counting the time I was asleep, of course." The two opponents shook hands, and Drake made a mental note to never do that again. The muscular grip of Octurus nearly crushed his hand.

"I'm afraid I must bid you all farewell, as I have other matters to attend to. Feel free to enjoy my city before you return to Inkopolis." Octurus returned to his desk, and the rest of the group exited the room.

Outside the meeting hall, Octarias dismissed the other commandos, and turned towards Otome. "Now that the politics are out of the way, we need to talk about your unit. I've found replacements for Privates Kira, Okha, and Lieutenant Kelly. Since you're now a Sargent, I think you can handle being in charge." Octarias handed Otome two kelp stocks to signify that she was now an elite.

"Wait, Lieutenant Kelly is still alive! I ran into her on the way here," Otome said, and tried to return the kelp stocks.

"What? Then why hasn't she reported in?" Octarias gave her a surprised look.

"S-she said she wanted to stay behind and keep an eye on the Mariners. We found her while we were passing through Ceph."

"Fine, I'll update the record. But until she returns, you are in charge of both the squad and your next assignment." Octarias refused the stocks, and Otome tied them to the backside of her armor, rather than pinning them in her tentacles like most elites. Though Marie thought it looked like the rods attached to the heavy armor that army assault squads wear.

Octarias turned towards the nearby waiting room. "Maroon! Rainbow! Weiss! Get in formation!" As soon as Octarias barked the order, three Octolings came out of the waiting room. Ignoring Otome's widening eyes, Octarias turned away, and started walking towards the exit. "Vortex will brief you on your assignment. And Otome, I'm not my father. I won't be patient forever." With that, Octarias left the hallway.

"Tch. I don't know what he sees in you," Typhoon scoffed in irritation. She leaned against the wall, while she waited for Vortex to finish their business. The two body guards were known for two things. Fierce loyalty to Octarias, and their sibling synergy. They even wore custom made black chest plates, complete with twin blue cyclone symbols.

Ignoring his sister, Vortex handed Otome a folder that contained the files of the new recruits. "Your next assignment should be an easy one. You and your new squad, are to return to Inkopolis, and act as the first cultural exchange between our races." Vortex glanced over at the squid sisters. "Since your already familiar with them, Octarias figures you shouldn't have trouble... fitting in. Just be sure to keep your squad out of trouble."

Otome opened the folder that Octarias had given her. The first page was a written version of the orders Vortex had just given her, and they were signed by the emperor himself. The next page was a dossier on the new replacements.

'Personnel file for new soldiers assigned to unit 43. Medical Examiner: Dr. Krako Strauss - Octarian science division. Physical Evaluator: Sargent Maki Lavender – Guardian Corps unit 11. Weapons Evaluator: Sargent Renko Voss – Octostriker squadron 21. Commanding Officer: Major Octarias – Guardian Corps Commando unit. Note: Due to the sudden death of Commander Ophelia, unit 43 is now attached to the commando unit, until further notice. The last part looked like it had been written in a hurry.

Vortex glanced at the first recruit, and she walked up. "Private Briki Rainbow reporting for duty, ma'am! They said I could return to Inkopolis if I helped out, so let's get along."

"Oh! I remember you!" Callie suddenly said. "You're that Octoling we helped."

"I'm glad you recognize me," Briki said, and turned to Otome. "They helped me and my sister, escape from both the Mariners and the Inkling army." Otome glanced down at Briki's file.

'Commanders notes: private Rainbow has been illegally living in Inkopolis for the past few days, along with her sister. Her knowledge of the city and culture may come in handy. Use her as a guide. She is a former Mariner, but has sworn loyalty to the emperor.'

'Medical results: Her mental state is sound, and her physical condition is adequate, despite her small stature. Some DNA anomalies were detected in her system, but I see no reason to issue a medical discharge. However, her attitude is not becoming of a soldier in our great army.'

'Physical evaluation: Obstacle course was completed at par time. CQC combat was underwhelming. Additional training recommended. How she passed the Mariner tests is beyond me.'

'Weapons evaluation: Octoshot: passable. Octobrush: laughable. Bombs: passable. Captured Inkling weapons: Impressive. Heavy weapons: passable. Piloting: poor. Private Rainbow showed particular efficiency with Inkling chargers. Recommend using her as a sniper.'

Otome looked up, and sighed as the next recruit stepped forwards. "Private Yako Maroon reporting for duty, Ma'am! Wow, I'm so happy I get to work with you, sis!" Otome sighed again, and looked down at her file.

'Commanders note: I don't have to describe your own sister to you. You two just have fun, and stay out of trouble.'

'Medical results: Her mental state is rather childish, but stable enough to warrant required service. Physical condition is average, but highly energetic. This one will require a calm and sound mind to guide her, or she may get her self splatted rather quickly.'

'Physical evaluation: She barely managed to get par time on the obstacle course. CQC was dreadful, as all she did was run from her opponent. Her one saving grace is her reflexes, which are top notch. More training would be futile at this point.'

'Weapons evaluation: Octoshot: Passable. Octobrush: below average. Bombs: surprisingly impressive. Captured Inkling weapons: worthless. Heavy weapons: embarrassing. Piloting: Abysmal. Private Maroon managed to hit a fellow Octostriker that was standing behind her, with an inkzooka. The effect was harmless, but it understandably enraged him. She also managed to total an assault platform. Recommend assigning an Octoshot and a very large number of bombs.'

Yako stepped back, and the third recruit, a male Octoling, stepped forward. "Private Tanner Weiss reporting. Charmed, I'm sure," he said with a playful grin. Already annoyed, Otome checked his file.

'Commanders note: Despite his young age, Tanner is a genius, and was formally a member of the science division. Due to his attitude and recent arguments with his superiors, he has been reassigned to the Guardian Corps. He will be your technician and pilot.'

'Medical results: His mental and physical condition are top notch for his age. However, his attitude leaves something to be desired. I had heard the stories from my peers, but when I saw him hitting on my secretary, I understood why he had been kicked out of the science division. My condolences to those that have to work with this womanizer.'

'Physical evaluation: he had to redo the obstacle course several times to finish under par. His CQC results were surprisingly impressive. His stamina needs work, but he is fit for duty. Side note: If he tries to flirt with me again, he's getting surprise eel training.'

'Weapons evaluation: Octoshot: pathetic. Octobrush: excellent. Bombs: passable. Captured Inkling weapons: poor, except for the ink brush. heavy weapons: Passable. Piloting: certified. Private Weiss displayed talent with the Octobrush, and even greater aptitude for the Inkling counterpart. I've allowed him to keep the brush he salvaged on a survey. Just be sure to give the wonder boy a bubbler shield.'

After reading the files Vortex had given her, Otome's situation became clear. 'That jerk, Octarias, is giving me a squad of misfits, and sending us away where we can't cause problems for the army. Or maybe he thinks I'm supposed to be grateful for this little vacation,' she thought.

Vortex took back the folder, and turned to where Octarias had departed to. "Octarias has arranged for an airship to take you back to Inkopolis. Your weapons have already been transferred, so head for the docks when you are ready to depart." Vortex motioned for his sister to follow, and she left with him after giving Otome one last glare.

"What is it with those two?" Otome said to herself, and turned back to her new team mates. Briki was sitting on the ground, Yako was getting her head patted by Drake, and Tanner was aggressively hitting on Marie. "I hope you don't think that just because I was recently promoted, that I'll let you goof off! Get back in line!"

"Aw, but sis-" Yako started to whine.

"Yako!"

"Eep! Sorry, ma'am!" Yako ran back into place, Briki quickly got up, and Tanner flashed Marie a suggestive glance, which was returned with a look that could kill.

"Now then. Don't ask why, but the emperor has given us the task of representing Octoburg to the Inklings. We will be staying in their capital city, so behave yourselves. That means you keep your hands to yourself, Tanner!" He pretended to be hurt, but Otome just ignored him.

"Ma'am, my sister will be staying with some friends, so we can use our apartment as our base," Briki said.

"Good thinking, Briki. Alright, we should head to the airship docks. Oh, did you guys want to see anything else before we head out?" Otome asked the squid sisters.

"Can we try some of your food before we go?" Callie asked.

"I-I don't think that's a good-"

"Sargent, if I may interject. There's a takeout place not far from here. We can eat at my partner's place, and I think both you and the elder race man would be interested to meat him." Tanner then looked at Drake, and his speech pattern suddenly changed. "After all, we're both experts in that field."

The expression on everybody's face became shocked, and Briki said, "I-is he okay? What the heck was that?" Drake was rather confused at this, until Otome spoke up.

"Drake, turn off your translator."

Doing as he was told, it became apparent what had confused the group when Tanner repeated the statement. "Y-you can actually speak our language?" Drake asked, who was clearly as surprised as the rest of them.

"I'm one of ten.. that can read your writing. I'm one of two that can... actually speak the language. Though it is... a bit hard for me." Tanner said.

"He can understand us with his translator just fine. Quit showing off, and speak normally," Otome said. Tanner nodded, and Drake switched the autotran back on.

"Anyway, both me and my partner changed our names to elder race names from the writings we have collected, and he has a lot of devices you might find interesting. Reverse engineering your technology is a hobby of ours. So do we have your permission, dear leader?" Tanner asked Otome. Not being able to contain her interest, Otome nodded in response, and the group left the capital building. After purchasing their food from the take out place, Tanner lead them to his partner's private laboratory. As they entered, Tanner called out to his friend. "Matthew! Are you in here?"

"That's Doctor Leviay!" A voice yelled back. Another male Octoling emerged from the other side of the room. He wore a white lab coat, and had a large pair of googles on his head that looked similar to what Sheldon wore. "Oh, it's just you. Didn't think you would be showing up after you got kicked out of the science division."

"Like that would stop me! I don't need the approval of some yapping tentacle to do what I like!" Tanner responded. "Anyway, you mind if we eat dinner here, and see what you've been cooking up?"

"Oh, sure. Because this is totally the place for a hang-" Matthew stopped when he locked eyes on Callie and Marie. "Well, I'll be damned! Tanner, how in the hell did you get close to the squid sisters?"

"Again? How did you know it was us?" Marie asked.

"I've seen enough of your concerts to know know the famous duo when I see them, disguise or not." Matthew responded.

"He's probably a bigger fanboy than I am," Tanner whispered. The group followed Matthew into his lab, and sat down to eat their dinner.

Matthew looked over to Drake. "By the way, I've been wondering something. That guy isn't what I think he is, is he?"

"Oh, he is." Tanner responded. "But Q and A time comes later. For now, I'm starving!" the group started digging in to their food.

"Hey, this isn't bad!" Callie said, as she excitedly sampled Octarian cuisine for the first time. Marie and Drake were also enjoying their food. Otome looked at them as if they were insane.

"Seriously? You guys actually like our food?" She asked.

"What do you mean, Sargent?" Briki asked. "I mean, having tried both, I do prefer Inkling food, but ours isn't bad either."

"Ah, sis has always hated Octarian food." Yako answered for Otome. "The only time she doesn't complain, is when I do the cooking."

"Oh? You can cook?" Tanner glanced at Yako, and Otome noticed the look in his eye.

"I just happen to have refined taste!" She said, intentionally interrupting Tanner before he could continue. "And since I've tried both human food and Callie's cooking, I think I know what I'm talking about."

"And I keep saying that those rations you ate are mediocre at best." Drake chimed in. "Though from what I've had, Callie is still the best cook."

"Aw, your so sweet!" Callie said, giving him a playful hug. Marie looked away and muttered, "I'll be just as good as her someday".

As they finished their dinner, Otome looked over to a nearby device that looked like a decked out assault platform. "Hey, Matthew. What is that?"

"Oh, your interested in my work? I've been modifying the standard assault platform into something with a bit more kick." He walked over to the prototype and started going over his work. "I've been trying to boost the hovering output to give it more speed, and actual flight capability. I've also mounted a few more guns on it, and increased the armor. I haven't had much success on keeping it stable, but eventually, this could turn our Octotroopers into a force to be reckoned with."

Tanner suddenly jumped up. "Matthew! Are you still working on weapons of war? Wasn't the eel and ink tampering capsule enough? I thought we agreed that our inventions wouldn't be used to hurt people!"

"Tanner, I want peace as much as you do, but you have to realize that not having the tools to back it up just makes you a target! Besides, I only work on them when the government pressures me to do so. It's not like I'll be finishing the damned thing anytime soon." Matthew turned to Drake, and his expression softened. "By the way, are you familiar with these?" He held up an old portable gaming console.

"Oh, wow. That looks like an original gameboy. Does it work?" Drake asked. Matthew nodded, and handed the gameboy to Drake. "Boy, this brings back memories," he said, after powering it on.

"Tanner found it on the last survey he went out on. I've been trying to reverse engineer it, when Tanner isn't hogging it." Matthew said.

"You'll figure it out eventually," Marie said, as she finished her dinner. "The Inklings did, after all."

"Hey, I wanna play!" Yako said, as she watched Drake test out the gameboy. He handed the Octoling the gameboy, and she spent a few minutes playing the game, while Briki complained about wanting a turn.

"Alright you two! That's enough of that." Otome stood up when she saw that everyone had finished eating. "Thanks for letting us visit, Doctor, but we need to get going."

"Well, just make sure you take care of that twit, Tanner. Not all of the Mariners will accept the new piece treaty, and if Octavio's supporters get a hold of him, who knows what they will force him to make."

"Don't worry. You can bet I'll be keeping a real close eye on him." The group left Matthew's lab, and made their way to the airship docks.

…

The Mariner Octolings were climbing into the transport kettle, as Kirk and Neptune watched. The elite looked back at them one last time, before joining her companions in the kettle. After a few seconds, it activated, and shot the Octolings towards Ceph.

"Okay, pizza time!" Neptune said, as they began making their way back to Cuttlefish's shack. The sun was beginning to set, and both Inklings were getting hungry.

"I, uh, think those two wanted to be alone," Kirk said.

"Ha! This is Shara we're talking about. There's no way she would even consider that," Neptune responded. "Or are you just trying to be alone with me?"

"Neptune, are you trying to tick me off?"

"You really are too easy." Neptune stopped and turned toward Kirk. "But seriously. That kindness is going to get you splatted someday. I would hate to see that." She turned her attention back to the path, and the two continued in silence. Eventually, Cuttlefish's shack came into view. "Think we should say something before heading back?" Neptune asked. Kirk nodded, and knocked on the door a few times.

"Ah, there you are. You're right on time," Cuttlefish said, as he beckoned them inside the shack. "We were just about to call you." As the walked inside, they spotted Levin and Shara sitting at the table, with a box of pizza sitting on top of it.

"We figured it would be nice for us to all eat together," Shara said, as she took a slice. "Besides, Cuttlefish needs something besides crabby cakes every once in a while."

"Aye, I admit it's been quite a while since I've had pizza," Cuttlefish responded. All five Inklings sat at the small table, and began to dig in.

"It would have been nice If Callie and Marie were here, though. Oh, and Otome too," Levin said.

"And you conveniently left Drake out. Just how much of a player are you?" Shara said, shaking her head.

"Oh, I think we all know what big brother is," Neptune said with a grin, and Levin immediately became defensive.

"Mfofghs dsdfo yisdfh knsfdo" Levin said, while trying to eat his pizza at the same time.

"Does anybody teach the youth manners anymore?" Cuttlefish mumbled to himself, as he watched the drama unfold.

"Sorry, Cap'n. Those three are always like that," Kirk said, trying to enjoy his meal in peace. After a few more minutes of colorful eating, a sudden rumbling sound made them stop.

"What the heck is that?" Levin asked, as he walked to the window. "Guys! It's an Octarian airship! Get your weapons ready." The four agents immediately jumped up, and took cover near the entry way.

"What's all the commotion about?" Cuttlefish calmly wiped his mouth, and walked towards the window. "Pipe down, agents!" He said, and pointed out the window. Two figures had squid jumped from the top of the airship, and landed in front of the shack.

"It's Callie and Marie!" Levin yelled, and the four inklings all tried to exit the shack at once, resulting in a spectacular pileup as they spilled out from the entry way.

"Kirk! Get offa me, ya perv!" Neptune tentacle slapped Kirk, as he quickly up. Several more figures jumped from the top of the airship. Otome, and several unfamiliar Octolings landed behind the squid sisters. Behind them, a crane was lowered from the bottom of the airship, and Drake was riding it down. He quickly jumped off, and the crane was retracted. With it's passengers unloaded, the airship flew back towards the Octarian side of Octovalley.

"Welcome back!" Kirk said, excitedly. "How did the negotiations go? Is the war over?"

"Heck yeah, it is!" Callie responded with a beaming smile.

"Well, we wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case," Otome said. "Officially, we are now at peace. But that doesn't mean that 'HE' will accept it." She gave Octavio a sharp glare, who just returned it with a smug gesture.

"The lass has a point," Cuttlefish said while leaning on his cane. "We'd best be prepared for trouble makers that refuse to stop fighting. Even from our own side."

"So, who are they?" Shara asked, and pointed to the other Octolings that had jumped in with Otome.

"I would imagine that's my new squad," A voice from behind said. The Octolings and squids alike, whipped around and saw an Octoling elite approaching them.

"Kelly? What are you doing here?" Otome asked.

"I just came to see what that airship was doing. Glad to hear the peace treaty was signed."

"Well, I guess this would be a good time to introduce everybody. You already know the squid sisters and Drake. The other Inklings are the squidbeak agents that defeated Octavio."

"Ha! I guess it must be weird for an Octoling to say this, but it's a pleasure to meet you. Octoburg owes you a great debt!" Kelly bent down and picked up a rock. She then turned, and hurled it at Octavio's prison. It bounced off, and Octavio just sighed and said, "another damned hipster to put on the list".

"Anyway, that's Briki rainbow, our sniper and guide, Tanner Weiss, our techno geek, and Yako Maroon, my... sister. Guys, that's our leader, Lieutenant Kelly. Though, technically I'm still in charge of this assignment since she's still listed as M.I.A."

"Well, don't let me interfere," Kelly responded. "But they look like they could use some work. If you don't mind letting me take over for the night, I'll put them through the works. I spotted some Mariners in Ceph that looked like they were getting ready to make trouble. I'll bring them back tomorrow morning."

"Alright, then you guys go with Kelly," Otome said to her team. "Follow her orders, and remember your training. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Tanner and Briki moved to where Kelly was, but Yako stayed put.

"Aw, but I wanted to spend more time with you, sis!" Yako protested, while looking at Drake for backup.

"I think Otome would appreciate it if you were a good girl, and do what she tells you," he said.

"Boo! Well, okay. I'll do it," Yako responded.

"That's a good girl," he said, while rubbing the top of her head. Yako giggled a bit, then moved to join the rest of her team.

"Bye bye!" She shouted, and the team followed Kelly to the Ceph kettle.

"I really wish she didn't have to serve in the army," Otome said with a sad look. "She's a good girl, but so naive. I just hope she never has to kill anybody."

"Yeah, I just met her, and I feel like we should be protecting her," Shara said, which understandably surprised everyone. "What? I'm just calling it as I see it. Why are you looking at me like that?" Levin and Neptune were both laughing, and Kirk had an approving smile on his face.

"Well, we need to get to the studio. Our people need to know about the peace agreement," Marie said.

"I need to report to mine as well," Drake said. He suddenly had an idea. "Hey, do you two think you will be up for a performance tonight? Just a small one."

"Huh? What for?" Callie asked, and the two turned to him.

"Did I ever tell you that you two saved my people with your songs?" The two confused Inklings shook their heads. "Back when we first came out of sleep, our morale was terrible. Nobody knew what to do or what to think. But then we heard your concert over the radio, and it gave them hope." Drake straightened up, and looked the two in the eyes. "Would you sing for us again? This time in person. It's time we stop hiding ourselves from the new world."

"Of course we will!" Callie answered immediately. "It's a bit scary, but I want to help you the same way you helped us. Besides, your our friend!"

"If Callie is in, then so am I. We'll do it after our news report," Marie said.

"Hey! HEY! I want to go too!" Levin butted in. "Seeing all those humans and their cool technology sounds awesome!" The other three nodded along with Levin.

"I'll bet he just wants to see the human girls," Neptune said with a grin.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Drake said, as he thought about it. "But then again, having a few more people to answer the many questions they have might help. Alright, but be ready to spend the night at the facility."

"I'm going too," Otome said, and Drake looked at her in surprise. "You fulfilled your promise to me, now it's time for me to help you."

"Then let's get to the studio so the Inklings are informed about the peace treaty, and I can give my people a heads up." The group left Cuttlefish's shack, and headed towards the city.

"Good luck, lad." Cuttlefish said to himself. "I pray the three races can co-exist."

…

The members of first squad were standing by the emergency exit, as they waited for Drake to arrive. Finally, the hatch opened, and Drake climbed down the latter. The familiar figure of the red tentacled Octoling followed closely behind, but then six more figures descended the ladder.

"Just how many were you planning on bringing, Drake?" Brandon asked, as he sized up what he assumed were the Inklings. "Isn't this kind of a security breach?"

"Those six already know that I'm not the only human alive. And you already know Otome."

"Isha imi naleni tula shena shu." Brandon looked over to Drake to translate what the Octoling had said.

"She said it's nice to see you again," Drake said. Due to Otome's time with Drake, she was no longer uncomfortable around the other humans. "That reminds me, did you bring the spare autotrans?" Brandon nodded in response. He and Reggie began handing them out to the Inklings and Octoling. "Attach it to your ear, like mine is," Drake said, while showing them how to use the devices.

"Man, seeing them up close is pretty cool," Takeshi said, and for once the rest of the team agreed with him.

"Are they the ones that are going to be singing for us?" Matt asked, looking at Callie and Marie.

"Yes. I'm Marie. That's my cousin, Callie," Marie said, as she looked over at her cousin that was acting shy again, and hiding behind Drake.

"I-it's nice to m-meet y-you," Callie said.

"Callie, why are you acting shy again? We're going to be performing for them, remember?"

"B-but it's the elder race this time! I know I-I was the one who agreed to this, b-but it makes me so nervous."

"I know how to calm you down," Levin said, as he stepped forward. "Where are the video games at?"

"Always the one track mind with you." Shara shook her head at Levin.

"Actually, why don't you guys give them a tour of the facility first," Drake said to the other security guards. The group exited the airlock, and stepped into the facility. Thankfully, the halls were clear, as most of the humans were in the cafeteria at this time. Drake started heading towards the security barracks.

"Wait, shouldn't you be showing them around?" Reggie asked.

"I need to do something I've been putting off for too long," Drake responded.

"You're finally going to look at the black box we found in the escape pod?"

"Yeah. Besides, I really don't want to deal with Mclarrin right now." Drake separated from the group, and entered the security barracks. Setting his rifle down, he opened his locker, took out the black box, and hooked it up to the desktop PC. He spent about an hour skimming through the various reports and date entrees, before finally skipping to the end log.

'Final entry for the Eden craft. It's been approximately 6000 years since our departure from earth. Due to a computer error, we have been drifting in space for most of our time out here, and we passed by a number of planets that would have been hospitable. To make matters worse, a meteorite struck the hull near the cryobed section of the ship. Half of the crew has been lost, and our engines are crippled. We are now operating on emergency thrusters, and the remaining crew has been awoken to try and bring the ship to one of the planets we passed by. We decided to stick the black box in one of the escape pods, and hope it can find it's way back to earth. All we can do is pray that the survivors at the Eden facility had better luck than we did.'

This was about what Drake had expected. In the back of his mind, he knew since they day they were awakened that the Eden craft was most likely lost. He would have been able to make peace with this, if not for one quickly amended entry at the very end of the log.

'Drake, if you see this, then I'm sorry. I couldn't keep our promise. I love you, so please survive for me.'

There was no name listed on the amended note, but Drake didn't need one to realize that it was from Hannah. Something in his mind snapped, and he slowly stood up. Around that time, Brandon and Justin walked in the room.

"You okay, Drake? What happened?" Brandon asked.

"I'm fine. I just need to be alone for a little while," Drake responded, and turned away from them.

"Drake, don't lie. What did you see on the black box?" Justin said.

"Not Now! Just, leave me alone!" He yelled back. The two started to do as they were asked, and that would have been the end of it, had Brandon not seen Drake's handgun leave its holster.

**A/N: One more chapter to go for arc 2. OC credit for this chapter:**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net**

**Vortex and Typhoon – Game Nation – fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: One more chapter to go for arc 2. OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net
> 
> Vortex and Typhoon – Game Nation – fanfiction net


	21. 2. 11 – From Eden with Calamari

After finishing their tour of the Eden facility, Callie and Marie were changing into their stage outfits in the women's barracks. The room itself was unused, as the few female security officers hadn't survived the cryosleep. Otome was talking to one of the guards outside the room, and the kids were playing games in the lounge with Takeshi.

"Hey, Cal, are you feeling any less nervous?" Marie asked her younger cousin.

"I think so. Hanging out with Drake's friends helped a little, and the tour was pretty exciting." Callie finished Dressing, and turned to Marie. "But even still, it is the elder race we are about to perform for. How can I not be nervous?"

"Just pretend it's like the folk singing contest. You know, back in Calamari County."

"That's not helping, Marie. You know how scared I was that night." Callie blushed a little, which made Marie chuckle.

"I don't get it, Callie. You were pretty eager to perform for Drake the other night."

"That's Different! I mean Drake was-" Callie stopped when she noticed the smirk on Marie's face. "Ugh, very funny, Marie. Do you ever get tired of messing with me?"

"You know you'd miss it if I stopped," Marie replied. "Besides, it looks to me like you aren't nervous anymore. Shall we get going?" Outside the barracks, Otome was telling the two guards the full story of the fight Drake was in the previous night. They found the crotch kick to be especially amusing. Reggie looked over, and he saw that the two had finished changing.

"Are you two ready? I've been looking forward to this!" Reggie said, excitedly.

"Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about it," Matt added. The squid sisters nodded in response.

"Shouldn't we get Drake first?" Otome asked. Matt nodded, and they followed him down the hall, to the main security bunks.

As soon as they reached it, the PA system suddenly came on. "Security to the mess hall. Repeat, security to the mess hall."

"Dammit, what now? Sorry, but we gotta run. I'm sure Drake can take it from here." Matt and Reggie ran off, and Otome walked up to the door. She knocked several times, but got no response. She knocked again, and this time they could hear several loud voices from the inside. Worried about Drake, she quickly opened the door, and went inside. The group was stunned at what they saw in front of them.

"I SAID, GET BACK!" Drake standing at the far side of the room, and was yelling at the other two security guards. His eyes were wide, and his face was drenched in sweat. But what alarmed the three the most, was the fact that he was pointing the barrel of his handgun at the side of his head.

"Drake, you need to calm down and think about this logically. What happened to the ship isn't your fault," Justin was actively trying to talk down Drake, while Brandon looked for an opportunity to disarm him.

"You don't get it," Drake responded. "It should have been me on that ship, but I just had to give her my pass. I should have died on that ship, not Hannah! I KILLED HER!"

"No one could have predicted that! Come on, Drake! Wake up and-" Brandon took a step forward, and Drake pointed the handgun at him for a split second, then returned to pointing it at his head.

"D-Drake, why are you doing this? Please stop!" As Callie pleaded, Drake eyes went even wider.

"W-what? Why are they here? You should have gone to the mess hall!"

Marie stepped forward. "Drake, did you forget about our promise? I don't know what happened, but I do know that I will never forgive you if you make Callie cry! And you said you would be my friend too!" Marie looked to Otome for backup. "Otome, say something!" Otome was too busy to think of a way to stop Drake to respond to her.

A minute went by as the stand off continued, though it felt more like an hour. Then, a soft voice could be heard at the back of the room. Marie looked over, and saw her cousin gently singing Maritime Memory. At first, she wondered why Callie thought it was appropriate to start singing in this situation, but when she saw Drakes resolve begin to falter, she realized what Callie was trying to do, and joined her in singing. Little by little, Drake's hand began to lower, and as the song progressed, the gun was eventually pointed at the ground. Otome quickly took advantage of this, and fired several pellets at Drake's chest with her octoshot, causing him to fall backwards and drop the handgun.

"Holy shit!" Brandon yelled, and both he and Justin turned to Otome.

"Relax, he's fine. Our ink isn't very effective on a human." As Drake's shaking hand slowly wiped the ink off of his face, Otome picked up the handgun. "That was good thinking, Callie."

"You could have warned us!" Brandon said in an angry tone.

"S-she d-did the r-right thing," Drake said, while coughing up ink. Having calmed down, Drake looked towards the girls that had stopped him from taking his own life. Callie ran up, and slapped him in the face.

"YOU JERK! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO US!" Callie smacked him again. "How do you think I- we would feel if you just..."

"I-I have no excuse," Drake said in response. "It's just... When I found out that a close friend of mine died because of a decision I made... I just lost it."

"And I keep telling you that isn't your fault," Justin added. "You were trying to help her. How could you know that the ship would be lost? We were the ones that were supposed to parish, after all."

"Y- yeah, I know. It's just that-" Drake stopped, and looked at the three girls and his team. "You're right. Callie, Otome, Marie... I'm sorry. Thank you for stopping me. That goes to you guys too, of course."

Drake slowly got up, and Callie hugged him, while the conflicted Otome turned away. "So, does this mean I'm forgiven?" Drake asked.

"If you cheer the hardest for us tonight, then I'll forgive you," Callie said, with a pout. "And I want to try some of that food Otome had."

"That goes double for me," Marie said, and Drake could tell that she was serious. Making both her and Callie worry had clearly angered her. Otome continued to be silent.

Suddenly, the PA system started up again. "Drake, this is Mclarrin! We're all waiting for you in the mess hall!"

"I guess that's the end of that. Brandon, can you take those two to the mess hall? I'll catch up when I've recomposed myself."

Seeing that Drake was no longer a danger to himself, Brandon nodded. "Alright. Follow me, you two." As he and Justin lead them out of the room, Drake walked over to Otome, who had remained behind.

"I suppose you're mad at me too," he said.

"No, it's not that. I'm just mad at myself." Otome looked up at Drake, and locked eyes with him. "I promised myself that I would return the kindness you've shown me, but All I managed to do was shoot you. I couldn't even do something so simple, like what Callie did."

"Honestly, you did what needed to be done, and no one else was willing to take that risk. Sure, Callie and Marie's singing distracted me, but who knows how long that would have lasted. You disarming me was what truly stopped me from... doing something that could never be taken back."

"I-I see. I'm glad to have been able to help you." Otome paused for a minute, before continuing. "I-I saw a picture of a female with you. Was that... her?"

"Yeah, that was Hannah. She.. meant a lot to me."

"I won't pretend to know what she was to you, but I think you have plenty of reasons to be here with us. You saved my life, and helped prevent another war from breaking out. Your life is more than justified, if you ask me."

"I guess I can't deny that. Thanks, Otome." Drake was finally starting to look like his old self again.

"O-of course, Drake." Otome was about to hug him the same way Callie did, something she had restrained herself to do because of his race, when a voice made both of them jump.

"And you have two other friends that feel that way!" Callie and Marie had returned to the barracks instead of heading to the cafeteria. Brandon just shrugged, as he stood behind them. Otome quickly returned the handgun, and recomposed herself.

"Callie, I thought we were supposed to be mad at him?" Marie said with a slight grin.

"This and that are two different things!" The group continued to exchange banter, as they made their way to where the other humans were waiting.

Inside the cafeteria, the four squid kids were sitting behind the tables that were being used as a makeshift stage for the squid sisters, and were trying to answer the many questions the humans were throwing at them. Manfred was busy recording the event, and Mclarrin was doing her best to keep order. Reggie sat at the computer terminal they had brought in, and was setting up the prerecorded music tracks for the concert. Takeshi was passing out glow sticks to the crowd, and teaching them the fine art of Japanese pop concerts.

"Takeshi, what are you doing?" Brandon asked, as the group of five entered the room.

"Dude, when are we ever going to have a concert of cute squid girls on our own doorstep again? We gotta do this right!"

Ignoring him, Drake took position at the front of the crowd, while Otome and the two cousins sat next to the squidbeak agents. "I suppose most of you are still unsure about the people we now share the world with, so I asked them to come here to put your minds at ease. Please welcome Callie and Marie, the squid sisters. The same duo that we heard on the radio."

As Drake moved to the other side of the room, Callie and Marie took position on the table tops. "I-its an honor to be here for the people that walked the planet before us," Callie said, "I'm Callie, and i-it's nice to meet you!"

"I'm Marie. Are you humans ready to rock?" Callie and Marie switched off their autotrans, and signaled to start the music. They sang and danced to a number of their popular songs, including ink me up and now or never. The human crowd had gotten into it just as much as their squid fans, and were waving around the glow sticks and moving along with the rhythm. All 70 surviving humans in the room had forgotten the fact that those performing in front of them, were evolved squids. Or perhaps they just didn't care, as this was the first time that they were all enjoying their lives since the flood 12,000 years ago.

An hour later, the concert had ended. The humans finished getting autographs and shaking hands, and most had gone back to their rooms to sleep off the euphoria. Manfred had finished thanking the squids on behalf of the humans, when Drake remembered he had something to ask his father. "By the way, dad," he said, as they walked out of earshot of the squids. "You remember our little pet cat? You know, the one that was released two thousand years before us? Well, he's still alive."

Manfred gave Drake a puzzled look. "What? Drake, are you feeling okay? You know cats don't live that long, right?"

"I know it's him, because he somehow learned to speak with telepathy. He mentioned both of us by name, and you can ask them if you don't believe me." Manfred's eyes went wide, as he knew the mutagen had something to do with this. "He also said you injected him with something."

Manfred looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "Drake, I only did it because I wanted to make sure he could survive. I had planned to use it some of the other animals, but... I had an accident in the lab, and the rest of the mutagen leaked into the ocean."

"The ocean? wait, you don't mean-"

"I'm afraid so. They didn't evolve naturally. I asked those girls for a quick DNA sample, and both theirs and the Octoling's, had traces of the mutagen in them. I... changed the natural course of evolution." Manfred's face became conflicted. "I was just trying to help Judd and the few animals we had left, but that doesn't excuse what I did. If you want to hit me, then now is the time."

Manfred turned his face towards Drake, fully expecting to get punched, but instead he was hugged. "Thanks, Dad," Drake said.

"Huh? What for?" Manfred was clearly confused.

"If it wasn't for you, we would be alone and hopeless in this world, and I wouldn't have several really good friends." Manfred felt the burden he had been carrying on his shoulders lifted, and returned the hug. "Well, I'm going to see how they are doing. Later, Frankenstein." Drake walked back to the table the squids and octopus were sitting at, and saw that most of them were noticeably tired, which was understandable after the long day they had.

"I think we need a vacation after this," Marie said with a yawn. "Especially after what happened with Drake."

"Huh? What's going on with Drake?" Shara asked, and looked at him with worry. Marie cursed herself for not thinking.

"It's nothing. Just some built up stress," Drake responded.

"Are you sure, dude? You don't look so good. Maybe you should relax with some games," Levin said.

"Yeah, you guys missed big brother getting creamed by me!" Neptune said, with a grin.

"That only happened because you distracted me!" Levin yelled back.

"You just keep telling yourself that, big guy."

Ignoring them, Marie looked over to her cousin, who was being unusually quiet. She looked like she was thinking about something, and that meant she was coming up with another extreme idea. Kirk also noticed her pensive state, and spoke up. "Um, are you okay, Callie? You look like you are troubled by something."

"No, I was just thinking about what Marie said," Callie responded, then turned to the group. "Say, what do you guys think about visiting a hot spring?"

Marie immediately face palmed. "Callie, please tell me you aren't talking about-"

"You bet I am!" She stood up and did one of her stage poses. "Tomorrow, we're taking a trip to Calamari County!"

…

It was early the next morning, and three armored vans were traveling on a rarely used road in downtown Inkopolis. In the back of the center vehicle, was Octavio, still in his sphere shaped prison. Unknown to them, several inklings and and a number of Octolings were watching and waiting.

"Target is confirmed to be inside the center van. Are you ready, Jade?"

"If we're really doing this, then I'm ready as I'll ever be. Are the ink mines in place, Pearl?"

"We'll know in a few seconds. Get your inkzooka ready." The two inklings armed their inkzookas, while the Octolings on the ground readied their octoshots. Suddenly, the lead van struck a mine, and was knocked on its side, which forced the other two vans to stop. The two inklings fired their inkzookas on the van in the rear, and disabled it before it could retreat. Several government agents attempted to climb out of the vans to return fire.

"Don't let them escape!" Pearl yelled, and the Octolings on the ground jumped into action. The guards were killed in a matter of seconds. Pearl jumped down from her perch, and approached the van that was carrying Octavio, with her tentatek splattershot ready. The driver of the center van attempted to surrender, but Pearl mercilessly splatted him on the spot.

"Damn, Pearl! You didn't have to go that far," Jade said, as he caught up to her partner.

"You know what the boss said. No witnesses," Pearl responded. Jade just sighed, and climbed into the van to retrieve Octavio. He took out a drill, and began cutting away at the prison that was holding the Octobot King.

"You took your damned time!" Octavio said, as he was finally freed from his prison.

"We can talk about that later," Pearl responded. "But for now, the boss wants us to move you to a secure location. He said you will get new instructions when you arrive."

"You ink squirt runts always forget your place. Fine, let's go. I'm getting tired of the smell." The two Inklings lead Octavio to the escape vehicle the Octolings had prepared. They sped away, and the scene of the ambush was now completely silent. Having witnessed the events that just transpired, two inklings slowly came out of the shadows.

"It was just as Marie feared. She isn't going to like this," Owen said, and turned to his partner.

"Yeah, but did you see? There were inklings helping them! Damn traitors!" Jack yelled, and Owen quickly covered his mouth in case there were still a few Octolings nearby.

"It's out of our hands now. Let's give Marie a call, and she can decide what to do with this information."

"Fine, but I still think we should have just gone in splattershots blazing."

…

"Alright, thanks. It's too late to do anything now, but I'll let gramps know. Yeah, I forgive you, and make sure to tell Owen. Bye, Jack." Marie ended the call, and turned to her cousin. "The convoy that was taking Octavio was ambushed, and he managed to escape. It's too late to stop him now, but hopefully gramps can put together a plan to deal with him when we get back." After calling Cuttlefish, Marie put her phone away, and turned her attention back to the magazine she was reading. It would be another half hour before the train they were riding would reach Calamari County. The seats in the car they were in were lined up horizontally, and were facing each other.

Callie, who was sitting to the right of Marie, looked around to see what the rest of the group was doing. Drake was sitting next to her, and was working on his data pad. To his right, Otome was actively looking around the car, as if scanning for threats. It saddened her to see that Otome refused to let her guard down around the other Inklings, but it also made Callie a little happy when she remembered that Otome had admitted that she considered Callie a friend. On the opposite side of the car, Levin was sleeping on his gear bag, while Shara texted her father. Kirk and Neptune were arguing about turf war tactics.

"It helps if you don't just run when I'm trying to jump to you!" Kirk said.

"Hey! When I'm trying to be stealthy, your jump beacon will just give me away! If you're going to do that, at least wear stealth gear!" Neptune responded.

"That doesn't mean you should just let your teammates get splatted!" Kirk snapped back. The conversation had been rather heated for a while.

"It could be worse, you know. I once played with a squid that would immediately swim away, and yell, 'don't frigging jump to me!'"

"Or, you could just jump to someone who isn't in the middle of an ink fight," Shara butted in, after finishing her text. Kirk gave up, and Neptune flashed Shara a thumbs up. "Something I wish Levin would learn."

"Huh? What? Wha'd I miss?" Levin asked, as he woke from his nap after hearing his name called.

"Nothing, Levin. We'll be in Calamari County before long, so you might want to stay awake." A sudden beeping noise ended the conversation, and the group turned to Otome. She was clearly surprised that her communicator was still in range of her team.

"Kelly? What's wrong?" Otome asked.

"Hey, Otome. We dealt with those rogue Octolings. It was the strangest thing. They weren't wearing the usual army uniform, and they didn't have any recognizable symbols on them. I'm not sure they were even Mariners. Anyway, I'm ready to return your team to you."

"Oh, right. About that. I got caught up in something, so do you mind keeping an eye on them for another day?"

"Ha! I'm sure we can find more traitors wondering around. I'll have Ceph squeaky clean by the time you get back." Otome could hear the groans of the other Octolings, as she ended the call. Before anybody could say anything, the train came to a halt, and it was announced that they had reached Calamari County.

"Well, time to show you guys our hometown," Marie said, as she lead them off the train. The town its self, was rather rural looking, but the buildings looked to be more of an Asian style. Fore once, Drake wished that Takeshi was around to tell them if it was of Japanese origin or not. Though that question was quickly answered when they spotted a pair of middle aged Inklings wearing Kimonos.

"Ah, crud," Callie said. "Uh, why don't we go this way?" The two inklings in Kimono's must have heard this, because they turned towards the group. Their faces lit up.

"Aori!" Said the one on the left.

"Hotaru!" Said the on the right. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

The group looked around, as they were confused as to who they were talking to. Then, they all turned their attention to the two cousins, who had red faces and were looking down. "Come on, mom! We changed our names when we moved out, and nobody calls us that anymore! Not even gramps does!" Callie said.

"Whoa! Those are Callie and Marie's moms?" Levin asked, while clearly staring.

"You will always be my little Hotaru," said Marie's mother, which embarrassed Marie further. "So who are they? Your new friends?"

"Did my Aori get a boyfriend, perhaps?" Callie's mother chimed in. "Oh, is it the elder race man that was with you the other night?" All eyes immediately shifted to Drake.

"N-no, he's my friend," Callie said.

"Then is it the blue one?" Her mother asked.

"NO WAY! I'm not dating anybody," Callie responded.

"Ouch, Callie. No need to deny it that strong- OUCH!" Shara whacked Levin on the top of the head, and told him to be quiet.

"We would like some grand squids of our own sometime, Hotaru. Anyway, why don't you stay at our inn for the night? I'm sure your friends would love the hot springs."

"That's what we are here for!" The embarrassed Marie responded. "Come on, let's get a move on." The two cousins took the lead, and dragged the rest of the group to another part of the town.

"So what did she mean by 'our inn?'" Shara asked. "Does your family run a hotel or something?"

"Actually, both of our families run the local resort up here," Marie responded." My dad takes care of finances, and my mom does the cleaning. Callie's dad is maintenance, and her mom is the cook."

"So now you know where I learned to cook," Callie said, as the group approached the inn. "Anyway, don't worry about expenses. It's on us." After showing them to their rooms, the boys obviously being in a different room, Callie took them to where the entrances of the hot springs were.

"So, are we taking turns in the hot spring? Are the girls first?" Kirk asked.

"Dad recently put in a divider, so both groups can go in at the same time," Callie responded.

"So don't get your hopes up, big brother," Neptune said. "We will be vary angry if you try anything."

"What? Why me?" Levin yelled.

"Because you're the only one that would be dumb enough to try that," Shara snapped.

"Speaking of trying things," Neptune reached over and grabbed Otome, who was trying to sneak away. "You didn't think you were getting out of this, did you?"

"You can't blame me for trying," Otome said with a sigh, as Neptune and Callie dragged her into the changing room. Drake and the boys, entered the other changing room. As he disrobed, he wrapped a towel around his waste, and followed the two boys into the indoor hot spring. As Drake sat down in the corner of the spring, he noticed that the two boys were taking their time getting in.

"We, uh, have a natural aversion to water," Kirk said, as they meekly got in. "If it's even a little polluted, we will dissolve in no time. If it's salt water, we're screwed no matter what."

"Plus, we can't swim," Levin added. "I wouldn't even shower, if I didn't have to."

"Levin, that's gross. Still, this hot spring is quite nice. I wish I had known about this before. I would have come here more often."

"It's also my first time doing this," Drake said. "There was nothing like this in the area I used to live in." Drake leaned back and closed his eyes, intent on just enjoying the hot bath. After a while of soaking, they could hear voices from the other side of the divider. "Sounds like someone is having fun over there."

"It kind of makes you curious, doesn't it?" Drake opened his eyes, and saw Levin standing right in front of him, and he was leaning in.

"Uh, what are you doing? You're a little too close there, friend."

"Shh! Not so loud. We don't want them getting suspicious," Levin said. "Drake, you're pretty tall. Think you can help a guy out?"

"Y-you aren't thinking what I think you are, are you?" Kirk gave Levin a dubious look.

"How can I not at a time like this?" Levin responded.

"Levin, did you forget what Neptune said? Besides, it's wrong," Kirk said.

"That just means she wants you to, man! And if not Neptune, then what about Callie? You might never have an opportunity like this again."

"Wha? Well, uh, I mean... I guess you have a point, but.."

"Then it's settled!" The two turned to Drake with expectations in their eyes. Drake sighed, and shook his head.

"Teenagers... No, we're not doing that. Don't try to drag me into this. What is this, an anime?"

"Aw, come on, man! Help a squid out!" Drake shook his head again. "Tch, fine. Hey, Kirk, let's try sneaking into the changing room."

"Stop!" Drake stood up, and approached them. "I guess you are determined to do this no matter what. I'll help you, just this once, if you promise to keep it short."

"That's the spirit, dude! I knew you were one of us!" Levin said.

"But if you get caught, I had no part in this." Drake moved to the side of the divider, and bent down. "And don't you dare drop that towel." Levin climbed on his back, and Drake stood up, allowing Levin to grab on to the side and pull up enough to peek over the top. Then he did the same for Kirk, and moved to the side of the divider.

"There's a lot of steam on that side, but I think I see Shara. I hadn't noticed before, but she's pretty."

"Dude, check out Neptune. She's looking nice."

"H-hey, Levin, there's Marie. Wow, I can see how she won splatfest."

-Thump- "Are you two done up there?"

"Let me see! Wow, you're right. This is the best! Oh, there's Callie!"

-Thump- "Seriously, get down."

"Sh-she's as beautiful as I imagined her to be. Wait, is that- so that's what an Octoling looks like under that armor."

"Dude, she could be the third squid sister with a figure like that!"

-Thump- "Dammit, guys! Thanks for making this even more awkward!" Drake leaned against the divider, but hadn't realized just how recently it was installed. Due to it not being bolted in yet, the wall started to lean.

"Whoa! What are you doing! Stop, dude!" Levin's warning came too late, and the divider fell over. The two Inklings were thrown forward, and tumbled right into the female side of the bath.

"Ah, shit!" Drake said. Fighting the urge to take a quick look, Drake ran out of the bath, hoping that the girls were too busy screaming at the boys to notice him. He quickly grabbed his cloths, and entered the dark hallway, which thankfully was empty. "I think I got away," he said to himself. Just then, he heard more screaming, only this time it wasn't the girls screaming. "Serves them right." Drake went back to his room, and tried his best to get some sleep.

The next day, Levin woke up, and rubbed his new bruises. He looked over, and saw that Kirk wasn't much better. "Ow, this is going to sting for a while," Kirk whined.

"Totally worth it, though. Best vacation ever," Levin responded, still rubbing his bruise.

"Speak for yourself. Who knows how long they will be mad at us. What if Callie never talks to me again?"

"You worry too much. I'll bet it will be like nothing happened." Seeing that Drake had already left the room, the two left, and headed to dining room for breakfast. Inside, they saw the girls eating a fresh batch of waffles Callie had made, and Drake had just been handed a plate of his own.

"Oh, more waffles! I've been dying for another serving of those!" Levin said, excitedly.

"What makes you think you get any?" Shara said, with obvious irritation in her voice.

"W-what? But why?" Kirk said.

"Did you already forget about last night? Be thankful we're even talking to you."

"I told you he was a perv. I expected more from Kirk, though," Neptune chimed in.

"Now wait a minute! How come Drake gets to eat! After all, he-"

"We already know," Marie said. "First off, I assume you two talked him into it."

"Second, he didn't try to look at us," Callie added.

"And lastly, he confessed and apologized to us with out us having to ask," Otome finished.

"Honesty is the best policy," Callie said, and dropped another batch of waffles on Drake's plate.

"Ah! The squid sisters hate us!" Kirk moaned.

"B-but you can't just starve us!" Levin protested.

"Pipe down! I got you covered. It's about time you learned to respect ramen anyway," Shara plopped two bowls of ramen in front of them.

"A-are you serious?"

"Dead serious. You should know that by now."

"You should be thanking Shara. I was in favor of letting you two not eat," Neptune said.

"I don't know. I was thinking of giving you a tour of our hometown, but I think we should leave them behind," Marie said with a wide smirk. Levin and Kirk immediately dropped down and prostrated themselves in front of the girls.

"We're sorry! We'll never do that again! We swear!" They said in unison.

"C-come on, girls. I think it's time we all made up," Callie said.

"You're the best, Callie!"

"You are way too soft on them," Otome said, as the group left the inn. They spent the rest of their time off seeing the sites of the squid sisters homeland, while carefully avoiding anyone who would refer to them as 'Aori' and 'Hotaru'.

**A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:**

**Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Jade and Pearl – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jade and Pearl – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net


	22. Side 2 – Intermissions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Notes: This is a few short stories I made to make up for the time between arks. The first is based of an idea that Game Nation proposed. The second was something that randomly popped into my head. The third was something I had planned, but couldn't decide where to insert it. The fourth is some content I cut out of the last chapter.

**1 - History Always Repeats Itself.**

Otome and the Inklings, were being taken on a tour of the Eden facility. First was the command center, which fascinated Marie. "This place reminds me of the control room of our studio, but so much larger. I've never seen so many computers in one place. What are they all for?" She asked, while gazing at the various terminals.

"Everything that goes on in Eden is monitored from those terminals," Brandon responded. "I wouldn't exaggerate when I say this is the most important part of the facility."

"Oh, so we could spy on Drake from here? I'm a little curious why he couldn't give us the tour himself," Marie said with a smirk. "Right, Callie?"

"Wh- why are you asking me?"

"Luckily for him, the crew quarters don't have cameras," Brandon responded. "And don't touch that!" He said to Levin, who was looking at one of the computers.

"I think this one is broken, dude," he said, and pointed to the terminal. The screen had frozen up and was garbled.

"Great, another thing for me to fix," Reggie said with a groan. "I just hope a certain Japanese guy won't get in my way this time."

"Seriously, You're still mad about that? Let it go, Dude!" Takeshi shot back. Levin looked over at the human guard.

"Looks like you got it tough too, bro. I'm all too familiar with getting yelled at," Levin said, while ignoring Shara's glare.

"Finally! Someone that understands the struggle!" Takeshi responded.

"Idiots," Shara said while shaking her head. "So, where else are we going?"

"Let's hit the power plant next," Matt said.

"I've been waiting to see how humans generate power!" The now excited Otome said.

"I can assure you, it's nothing special," Reggie said, as the group left the control room. After the power plant, they toured the armory, agridome, cryo lab, medical bay (which was quite a surprise for Dr. Harkov) and the motor pool. Levin was fascinated by the armory, while Kirk enjoyed learning how the humans survived in the cryo lab. Callie preferred the relaxing atmosphere of the agridome. Shara's favorite place would be the last spot on the tour, the library.

"I wish I could read your language. I could spend days, no, months here," she said, gazing at the books and video disks on display.

"Why, Shara. I had no idea you were a book worm," Neptune said with a grin.

"Can it, pink one!" Shara snapped. "I happen to like reading. Especially historical things."

"History, huh?" Brandon said, while thinking. "Why don't we show you some of ours."

"Really? You'll do that for us?" Shara responded with a surprised look. The security guards took turns translating several historical programs from the library computer. They showed them several different time periods, including the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the crusades, the Napoleonic wars and the American revolution.

"I had no idea that human history was like this," Marie said.

"Pretty easy to see how we screwed up the planet, isn't it?" Brandon said with a sad tone. "If you want to back out of this concert, I won't blame you."

"They- they're just like us," Kirk said, who had been silent for some time. "The great turf war..."

"Y-yeah, we can't back out now!" Callie said, as she regained her composure. "It's just a little hard to take in."

"Wait, I saw something about a great war in Drake's notes. Was it something like this?" Reggie grabbed a video disk that contained old footage of the first world war, and played it for the inklings. The footage showed various trench battles, as well as the introduction of aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery.

"The weapons were different, but from the stories gramps told us, this is very similar to the great turf war," Marie said. She continued to watch the program while lost in thought. After a few minutes, Reggie stopped the video, and replaced the disk with another one.

"You said that, uh, Octavi something, was trying to take over your home, right?" He asked Otome.

"Octavio, and yes. He's trying to usurp the emperor and establish his own reign of hell," Otome responded.

"After the war, a country know as Germany was left in a state that was barely livable. It allowed this man to take power, and start the second world war, thirty years later." Reggie started the second disk, and the inklings watched footage of world war 2.

"That man with the square patch of fur on his face... He reminds me of DJ Octavio," Kirk said with a rather pensive face.

"All the more reason we should have put him down for good," Shara said.

"Well, what ever you do, make sure history doesn't repeat itself," Brandon added.

"Alright, enough of that," Takeshi suddenly said. "Who wants to play some video games in the lounge?"

"It's about time!" Levin yelled.

"Yeah, time for me to kick big brother's butt," Neptune chimed in, and the group left the library. The lounge would end up being Neptune's favorite spot.

**2 - The Poker Game.**

It was after the Eden concert, and the the younger squids were sleeping it off in the spare rooms. Drake, Brandon, Takeshi and Matt were in the security barracks, and were several rounds into their poker game. "I think I'm done for the night," Matt said, and started to leave.

"You're just mad that you lost every round," Takeshi responded.

"You just keep telling yourself that," Matt snapped back. "Find someone else to fill in for me." He climbed into his bunk, and covered his ears with a pair of headphones. The discussion was obviously over.

"Well, it's kinda boring with only three of us," Takeshi said.

"Reggie is fixing another busted terminal in the control room, and I think Justin is pulling a double shift at medical," Brandon responded.

"Why don't we just call it a night?" Drake said. Before the other two could answer, several voices cut in from the other side of the room.

"Can we play too?" The three looked over, and saw Otome and the squid sisters enter the room. The one who had spoken was Callie. The humans stared in surprise.

"The girl that was working at the agricultural dome said you liked this game, and showed us how to play," Marie said, sensing the human's confusion.

"I didn't know Fong knew how to play poker! Damn, we totally could have used her to bring some appeal to this-"

"Shut it, Takeshi!" Drake said, cutting him off. "If you two think you can play, you are welcome to join us."

The three girls sat down, and Otome took out her wallet. "By the way, that girl said we needed money to play. Should we use our coins?" Otome asked.

"No, we got plenty to spare." Drake said, as he took out a large jar of human coins. He passed them out, and showed them the value of the different coins. "We'll do a few practice rounds before we start betting." After playing a few rounds with out betting, the girls decided they were ready to start playing for real. Brandon dealt the cards, and Callie's face immediately lit up when she received her hand. This caused everyone but Brandon and Marie to fold.

"All in!" Callie squealed when it was her turn to bet.

"Callie, you're not supposed to do that unless it's a last resort," Marie said, and talked her into only calling Brandon's raise.

"Three of a kind," Brandon said, which beat Marie's two pair.

"I got all red cards!" Callie said, as she laid down her hand.

"Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, Callie, but a flush is five cards of the same suit. You know, like five hearts," Drake said.

"O-oh, then I fold," The disappointed Callie responded.

"Brandon wins this round. Be careful about giving your hand away," Drake said. As Brandon collected his winnings, the three girls all looked at each other, and removed their gloves. The humans thought they were just warm, and didn't pay it any mind. Brandon dealt the next hand, and the next round of betting took place. Takeshi won the hand due to a bluff with a bad hand.

"This is harder than it looks," Otome said, as Takeshi collected his winnings. This time, the girls all removed their shoes, and place them on the side of the table. The humans again gave them curious looks, but chose to carry on. The next hand Drake won due to a lucky full house. As Drake collected the pot, he glanced over, and saw the girls exchange embarrassed expressions with each other. It was only when they started removing their dresses and armor, did the humans finally catch on to what was happening.

"WHOA! WHOA! Who told you we were playing strip poker!" Brandon yelled, as the stunned humans were brought back to their senses.

"What did you stop them for! This was getting-" A quick backhand from Brandon, shut Takeshi up before he could finish.

"T-the woman that taught us how to play, said we have to pay with our clothing too," Marie said, who had her dress half way off.

"I guess this is Fong's way of getting back at me for snapping at her," Drake said while shaking his head. "Put your clothes back on. She was just screwing with you." The girls quickly put their tops back in place, and put their boots and gloves on. The rest of the game went with out incident. Eventually, Otome noticed that facial expressions were a key giveaway to hand quality, and put her goggles on. She ended up being the big winner of the night.

"Man, that was quite a thrill. You should have let them keep thinking that we were playing strip poker, though," Takeshi said after the girls retired for the night.

"Takeshi, we already need to kill you six times. Do you really want to add another to the tally?" Brandon responded in annoyance.

"I'll make another note of it," Takeshi said as the group quarreled into the night. Thankfully, Matt had passed out, and didn't see any of it.

**3 - Melting The Ice.**

Otome was wondering around the Eden facility after the concert had ended. For what ever reason, Drake had asked her to go to medical by herself. She didn't understand why, as she just spent half an hour talking with Dr. Harkov and Justin. She was supposed to meet them back in the lounge, but she was worried that the reason she had been sent away had something to do with the incident in the barracks.

"I wonder if he was mad at me after all," She said to herself. Eventually, she found her way to the lounge entrance. "Why am I hesitating? He wouldn't lie to me... would he?" Otome opened the door, and entered the lounge. The room was completely dark, and it looked like the others had already left.

"Drake? Callie? Is anyone still here?" Otome took another look around the dark room for a minute. As she turned to leave, the door slammed shut.

"We know what you did, Otome," a voice that sounded like Shara's said.

"Who's there? Is that you, Shara?" Otome responded.

"Drake and the squid sisters told us all about it," another voice that sounded like Kirk said.

"Did you really think we wouldn't find out?" Said Neptune.

"W-what is this about? Wait, is this because of what happened a few hours ago?" Otome started to panic.

"Did you think you would get away with it?" Levin said, who was standing right behind her. The lights suddenly came on, and Otome was blinded for a few seconds.

"Surprise!" She could here a number of people yell. "Happy eighteenth birthday, Otome!" As her eyes adjusted, the figures of the squid kids, squid sisters, and Drake came into view. Most of them were trying to cover their amused smiles at her reaction.

"DAMN YOU! THAT WASN'T FUNNY!" Otome roared.

"Gotcha again, Otome," Neptune said, who didn't bother to cover her smile.

"YOU LITTLE-"

"Don't be like that, Otome! This is for you!" Callie ran up, and embraced Otome from behind.

"W-what is this all about, Callie?" Otome said, as she calmed down.

"It's your birthday party! We thought it would be more fun if it was a surprise," Callie responded.

"A what?"

"Don't tell me Octarians don't celebrate birthdays," Shara said in disbelief.

"Why would we? It's just a number. Your close friends will get you a trinket or something, but that's about it."

"You poor thing. What else are you missing out on?" Marie said, while shaking her head.

"We, uh, set this all up for you to enjoy yourself," Kirk cut in. "In Inkopolis, birthdays are a happy thing, and you should be proud to turn eighteen."

"It's the same for humans," Drake said. "I got the video game system hooked up. We also have fresh food, which cost me, my father and all the guards our dairy rations for the week. Though, that was mostly for the cake."

"Cake?" The confused Otome asked. She spotted the cake sitting on the table, which was decorated with a number of candles.

"You don't have cake, either?! What are we going to do with this girl?" Shara said. "I don't understand the point of the candles, though."

"That's an old human tradition," Drake said. He took out a lighter, and lit the candles up. "Basically, you would make a wish in your mind, then blow out the candles." Otome thought for a moment, then did as Drake said, and blew them out.

"So what did you wish for?" Neptune asked with a grin.

"I-I can't tell you that!" Otome said, and her face reddened.

"Well, you aren't supposed to tell," Drake said, as he cut a slice for Otome. The sensation of the sweet cake was even better than Callie's waffles, and the group took great delight in eating the food that had been prepared.

"Aren't we going to give her the gifts?" Kirk asked.

"Heck yeah! We're going first!" Levin said, and walked up to Otome. "The four of us pitched in, and convinced Sheldon to sell us one of these!" Levin reached out, and handed Otome a replica Octoshot. "Now you can play turf wars any time you like!"

"T-thank you. I-I don't know what to say," Otome said, with mixed emotions.

"Just say you will play with us one of these days," Kirk responded.

"Yeah, we'll treat you better than that jerk friend of Levin's. Won't we, Shara?" Neptune said, and Shara just rolled her eyes.

Marie was next to walk up. "These are from Callie and me," she said, and handed her an Octo-Tee, some inkling shorts, pilot goggles, and a pair of Icy down boots. "In case you feel like wearing something different."

"I-uh-I, Thank you."

"And this is from me," Drake said, and gave her an old Luger handgun and a holster. "I figured you could use something with a little more kick than that knife if you get attacked by your own side again."

"This is- won't your people get mad if you give away your weapons?" Otome asked.

"That one is mine. It's one of two that belonged to one of my ancestors. I think a handgun is more suited to your size than a rifle, anyway." Drake handed Otome a spare magazine, and a box of bullets. "That's all the ammo I have, and we can't get more. So use it wisely."

"I will. Thank you, Drake." Otome said, as she strapped the holster to her side, and placed the handgun inside.

After a while, they started playing the games that Drake had prepared. The popular game of the night, was an old first person shooter that they played games of 2v2 on. It took her a few rounds to get the hang of it, but Otome soon found out she had a knack for this type of game. Eventually, she paired up with Neptune, and it was then that they became an unstoppable force. After winning about 10 games in a row, Drake jumped in with Callie, and finally ended their reign of terror.

With the squid kids passed out on the couch, Otome got up, and walked over to where Drake was talking to the squid sisters. "Drake, thank you for setting this up. I had so much fun tonight."

"Well, Marie and I set it up, but you should be thanking Callie. She was the one who came up with and pushed the idea," Drake responded. Callie looked away with an embarrassed expression. Otome walked up to Callie, and against expectations, hugged her.

"Thank you, my friend," Otome said. Callie returned the hug, and shed a few tears in the process.

"It's nice to see rivals become so close," Marie said to herself.

**Battlefield Ceph**

"Damn the Mariners! Why won't they just back off already?" Tanner was complaining loudly, as the Octoling squad rested near one of the destroyed buildings in Ceph. They had just cleared out several rogue Mariner squads, and were getting tired.

"If you're going to complain about that, why do you keep stealing my splats?" Yako responded with puffed out cheeks. "It's like you and the boss are trying to get in the way."

"That's because we are. You are far too careless, Yako, and Otome would kill me if I let something happen to you." Kelly said.

"Besides, we can't let a pretty thing like you dirty her hands!" Tanner leaned in with a smile that obviously contained ulterior motives.

"Boo! You're a butt-head, Tanner!" Yako retorted. Briki was perched on a balcony of one of the ruined buildings, and was scanning for targets with her scoped kelp charger she obtained while in Inkopolis. A place she was really wishing she was back in, as she listened to the bickering below.

"Well, it still beats being in Octavio's faction," Briki said to herself. "I just hope Yako doesn't get herself in to trouble." Briki continued to scan the ruined city. While she was aware of the Octarian propaganda concerning the battle of Ceph, she and the other Octolings honestly regretted that these ruins were all that was left of the effort to coexist with the Inklings.

"Tanner, if you take another one of my splats, Imma tell Otome on you!" Briki shook her head at the trivial argument going on below her. Out of the corner of the scope, she spotted another group of Octolings in the distance by a pile of rubble.

"Wait, what? Something is wrong." Briki took out her communicator, and signaled Kelly. "Lieutenant, I spotted another group to the right, but something is off."

"What do you mean, private? What do you see?" Kelly responded.

"More Octolings, but they aren't wearing army uniforms, and I don't see any insignia. What's more, some of them are armed with inkling weapons. I can see a charger, a roller and a splatling. Wait... is that..."

"What is it? Talk to me, Briki!" Kelly barked over the com unit.

"They have an Inkling with them!"

"An Inkling? What the hell? Why would the Mariners..." Kelly thought for a second, then shook her head. "Wait, they can't be Mariners. We can't risk starting an incident, so I'm going to try talking first. Briki, get to a position you can cover from. Tanner, you get on their flank. Yako, you watch my back. Replace your tampering capsules and get tactical, squad!"

Briki moved to the far side of the building, which was just close enough to get her in range. Tanner moved to the right, and took cover behind a nearby wall. Kelly slowly approached the unknown group, while Yako stayed in her shadow. "Greetings," Kelly said to the nearest Octoling. "Don't you know you are in violation of the treaty?"

"Doesn't the same apply to you?" The Octoling replied with a snarl.

"We're under orders from the emperor himself," Kelly responded, which was partially true.

"That's too bad for you, as now we can't let you leave!" The Octoling quickly raised her Octoshot, but the laser sight from Briki's charger made her dodge to the side. Kelly flicked a splat bomb at the Octoling, dove into the fresh trail that the charger shot had made, and swam back to where Yako was.

"Covering fire!" Kelly yelled, and Yako quickly unloaded on the roller carrier, which forced her to retreat a little. This allowed Tanner to pop out of his hiding spot, and splat the roller before she could get around to Yako's side.

"You owe me one!" Tanner shouted, as he dove back into his ink. He was a little too slow, however, as the splatling had seen through his movements, and blocked his retreat. "How the hell can you use that so well?" Tanner yelled, as he changed course at the last second to avoid getting splatted. Thankfully for him, the splatling's slow movements allowed Briki to get another shot off, and the Octoling fell dead.

The charger turned her attention to countering Briki, but this left her wide open to Yako. She pulled the trigger, expecting to finally get a splat, but Tanner jumped out in front of her with his bubbler shield up. A few quick swipes, and the charger was down.

"Tanner, you jerk!" Yako yelled at him. Ignoring her complaints, the group turned to the Inkling, who was now alone. While clearly shaken, he had no intention to surrender.

Kelly walked to the front of the group, and stared him down. "Let's take him alive, so we can figure out who the hell these guys are. Briki!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Briki took aim with her charger, intending to strike him in the leg. Suddenly, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye, which made her dodge to the left. A charger shot struck the spot that she had been in only a second earlier. Four more inklings had joined the fray, and now they were trying to turn the tables on the Octolings.

"Get down!" A voice shouted from behind Briki. She ducked down just in time, as another charger shot flew by her head. Then out of nowhere, a shot from her side took out the enemy charger. An Inkling wearing army attire, jumped down to Briki's position, and she spotted another one move in the ink trail below. He popped out, and struck one of the remaining Inkling insurgents with a Luna blaster.

"Mako's got you covered! Let's take it to them!" The other Inkling yelled.

"Help me cover them!" The Inkling said to Briki, and they both turned their chargers to the remaining three. A shot from Briki's kelp charger, and one from the Inkling's bento, meant there was only one left. Still refusing to surrender, Kelly was forced to finish him off with her Octoshot.

"Damn, no prisoners again," the Inkling said to herself.

"E-excuse me? Do you know about them?" Briki asked.

"Yeah, we have been tracking them all day. We think it's a new group of rebels that oppose any sort of peace between us," the Inkling responded. She then turned, and looked at Briki. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I go by Starheart, my league name, and I'm in the army."

"I- I'm Briki. A private in the Guardian Corps."

"Well, you're a pretty good shot, Briki. I've never seen an Octoling use one of our chargers before."

"I-uh, spent a few days in Inkopolis before rejoining the army. The squid sisters taught me how to use a few Inkling weapons," Briki responded.

"Oh? If the squid sisters taught you, then you must be good," Starheart said with a smile. "You're part of the exchange group, right? Do you want to pair up in a turf war later?"

"Oh, I would love to!" Briki said excitedly.

"Hey, if you kids are done up there, I'm kinda starving down here!" Tanner yelled at the two.

"Sorry, looks like my team wants to head out."

"Yeah, and we need to get back to our sweep," Mako yelled to his partner.

"Meet me by the transport lobby tonight if you want to play, Briki." The two jumped down, and Starheart gave them a wave before the Inklings left to resume their search.

"You guys did pretty good today," Kelly said to her team. "I doubt there is much left for me to teach you. Let's head back, and grab dinner." The Octolings started heading back towards Inkopolis.

"I'll get a bunch of splats, next time," Yako muttered to herself.

"Nah, I think you just need to stand there and look pretty," Tanner said, and took off running to avoid not so friendly fire from Yako.

**A/N: I still have stuff to catch up on, so I don't know yet when I will be starting arc 3. Let me know in the comments/reviews which of these short stories you liked best. And be sure to check out the Halloween special.  
**

**OC Credit:**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Briki - Briki -Splatoon amino**

**Tanner - Write n Wrong - Fanfictiondotnet**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OC Credit:
> 
> Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Briki - Briki -Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner - Write n Wrong - Fanfictiondotnet


	23. 3.1 – The Omen

The sun was setting, and the city of Ceph looked even more lonely than it did in the day. Or at least, the simulated day/night cycle made it feel that way. After the war, the Octarians had encased the city in one of their domes, but it was widely unused, as the environmental damage caused by the Octoweapons was too severe to be safely inhabited. The city was mostly left to rot for the last 100 years, though the environmental systems were left active. As such, it made sense that this would be the perfect place for Octavio to hide out at. Or so the two junior detectives thought.

"Jack, we have been at it all day. Octavio is long gone by now," Owen said to his partner.

"You got a better idea, smart guy?" Jack responded. "It's your fault that Octavio got away in the first place."

"That's a fine thank you for keeping us alive. Do you even remember how badly we were outnumbered? If we had tried anything, we would have ended up like those guys from the government." Owen was getting impatient at his partner.

"Better than having Marie hate me," Jack responded. "Look, we still got time. Let's look around a bit more."

"Fine, but I'm pretty sure we are barking up the wrong tree." The two continued to wonder around the ruined city. The damage to the city was varied. In some areas, entire buildings were reduced to rubble, while others were almost in livable condition.

Another hour passed, and the two came to a stop on the far side. "Seriously, Jack. We need to start heading back. I don't want to be around when it starts getting really late. I hear there are still wandering Mariners that refuse to accept the treaty." Owen was clearly tired of chasing after Jack's whims.

"Maybe so, but if we find them, we might find Octavio. Who else would bother to save him?"

"And then what? You know we can't take them on by ourselves!" Owen looked around nervously.

"We do what ever we have to. We can't let Marie dirty her hands even more."

"That again? I swear, Jack, sometimes you are way too ob-" Before he could finish, Owen's body violently jerked. His eyes went vacant, and he fell forwards, hitting the ground hard. Jack gasped, as he saw the large stain that had been left on the back of Owen's head. He would never move again, as it had been an intentional kill shot from a charger.

Jack quickly pulled out his weapon, and spotted the assailant on a nearby scrap pile. He took aim at the enemy, but another shot knocked the weapon out of Jack's hand. Cursing, he drew his back up weapon, the human revolver. After dodging another shot, he quickly fired 2 rounds. Both shots missed. As the charger re-aligned his aim, Jack fired another round, and dove behind cover, narrowly avoiding the ink stream.

Peaking out from behind his hiding spot, he fired another 2 shots, and ducked again as the charger attempted to lock on. As the shot flew over his head, Jack got off his last shot, and managed to hit the charger in the head. As he fell from his perch, Jack quickly loaded his spare bullets into the revolver's cylinder. After double checking to make sure that the sniper was dead, he turned to his deceased partner.

"Damn it... I'm sorry, Owen." Jack bent down to confirm his partner's death, when he felt an impact to the side of his head. The Inkling's vision went black, and he slumped over. The Octoling that had delivered the blow, pointed her weapon at the unconscious Jack.

"Take this one alive," a voice said from behind.

"Are you sure about that, Jade?" The Octoling responded. "We don't have a lot of room for prisoners, you know."

"They wouldn't be snooping around here with out a reason. We need to find out how much he knows."

"Anything you say, cutie. What about that blue spot over there?"

"Leave him. Even if he is found, it won't change anything." The group left Owen's body behind, while dragging the unconscious Jack.

…

"Hey , Sargent! Sarge! Hey, Over here!"

"I'm neither blind nor deaf, Tanner. I can hear you fine." Otome said, as she exited the train with the others. Her squad was waiting around the station for her return from Calamari County. The sun was setting, and the twilight gave a calm glow to the surrounding buildings. Since they had their fill of trains for the day, the group had decided to head to the plaza on foot, rather than take the tram.

"Well, It's too late for me to head back to Eden." Drake sighed, as the one hour trip would be impossible to make before nightfall. "And I feel bad for Callie and Marie having to make room for me at the studio."

"It's no trouble!" Callie cut in. "W-we love having you."

"This might be a problem, though. They are remodeling the non-essential rooms at the studio right now, and won't be done for the next few days," Marie said. "Any ideas on where he can sleep for the night?"

"W-we have a spare bedroom at our apartment," Callie said with a red face, as Marie gave her a stunned look, due the the fact that she would even have the nerve to suggest such a thing.

"Actually, it might be best if he stays with us," Otome cut in. "He can sleep in the living room with Tanner, and I could use somebody to keep an eye on him."

"Give me a break, Sarge!"

"I appreciate the offer, Callie, but going with the Octolings might be for the best," Drake responded.

"O-oh, okay," Callie said with a dejected look. Marie continued to stare, while wondering how serious Callie was.

"Now that his situation is squared away, you guys know a good place to get some grub? Certain squad members have been whining about food for a while now," Kelly said, while giving Tanner a sharp look.

"Why don't we hit the plaza cafe? We're headed in that direction anyway," Levin said.

"You probably just want to eat cake," Shara responded, and Levin just shrugged. "Besides, that place is expensive, and I don't think they take Octarian currency."

"Actually, Octurus gave us a hefty budget of Inkling money. And since we are using Briki's apartment, we have plenty to spare. Splurging once or twice won't hurt us," Otome said.

"And I want to try a Cake, too!" Yako chimed in.

"Any objections on the cafe?" Kelly asked, and nobody spoke up. "Good. Well, lead the way, handsome." Levin puffed out his chest and took the lead, while Neptune said something along the lines of, "Big brother's being a dog fish, again".

The group entered the plaza, and Callie handed Drake some money. "We have to start our evening broadcast, so we can't eat with you guys. This should cover your dinner. Just promise me that you will hang out with us tomorrow."

"Sure thing, Callie. I should be able to spare some time before I have to head back to E- I mean leave the city." The squid sisters left for the studio, and Briki spotted Starheart by the transport lobby.

"Hey, guys. Star wanted to take me into a turf war. Can you order something for me?" Briki asked.

"Alright, but be careful, Private. Remember this is Inkling territory," Otome responded. Briki ran off towards the lobby, and the rest of the group followed the agents into the Cafe. Drake and the Octolings were lost at the menu, which was written in Inkling.

"How about if we all have grilled cheese sandwiches and Cakes?" Kirk suggested. Thankfully, everybody was okay with this. Though, Shara demanded ramen instead of a sandwich. The Octarians handed Levin and Kirk the money for their meals, and looked around for a seat while the Inklings ordered their food.

The other customers were giving them a variety of looks, none of them friendly. As they spotted an empty table, they suddenly were shouted at from the front counter. "Hey! What the hell are Octarians doing in my store?!" They turned towards the offending shout, and saw that the manager had appeared from the back room. "We don't serve their kind here!"

"What?!" Levin yelled. "Don't talk about our friends like that!"

"Yeah, yeah, very nice. Kindly remove your pets from our establishment," The middle aged manager shot back.

"Hey, we already paid for our food!" Kirk protested.

"Like I care! That's barely a down payment on all the things they took from us."

"Excuse me," Otome said, as she stepped forward. "You do know that we are officially at peace now, right?"

"Who asked you, monster!" The manager snapped. Otome's eyes narrowed, and Drake and Tanner had to grab hold of Yako, who was shouting "How dare you say that too my sister!"

"Don't you think you are being unreasonable?" Drake said, while holding back Yako. "They are invited guests in your city, and you are giving them a vary bad first impression."

"Oh, great. You brought the fossil too. Am I supposed to be impressed? Why don't you go jump back into what ever whole you were dug out of? And take that little runt with-"

"SHUT UP!" Otome screamed, as she had finally lost it. "Say what you want about me, but if you ever talk like that about my friends or my sister, I will-"

"Otome, that's enough," Kelly said, as she put her hand on Otome's shoulder. "Let her handle this." Otome turned, and saw that Briki had returned to the cafe, with Starheart in tow. Star, who was not wearing her uniform, flashed her army badge to the Cafe owner.

"Thank goodness you're here, soldier. Would you please tell these mutants to leave? They are disrupting my business."

"Are those the meals that had been prepared for them?" Starheart asked, referring to the food that had been prepared by the other employees before the manager had started yelling.

"Yes, but-"

"Give them to me." The employee at the counter handed Star the food, and she proceeded to hand them out to the Inklings and Octolings. "Are you aware that refusing to surrender goods that have been payed for with out refunding money, is considered theft?" She asked the manager.

"Yeah, for Inklings. Octarians aren't covered in our laws."

"Laws are laws," Star responded, calmly. "And I find your treatment of official guests to be deplorable, to say the least. You can expect to lose business from the league."

"But.. but.. you can't do this!" The manager protested. He clearly did not anticipate an Inkling official to take the side of the Octarians.

"You can bet to lose a lot more business than that, once the squid sisters find out," Shara said, who had been silent and recording the event, along with Neptune.

"Hey, Shara. How long do you think it will be before this place is under new management?" Neptune asked.

"Oh, I give him about a week," Shara responded.

"I'll bet you a bowl of ramen that he is out on his ass by tomorrow," Neptune said.

"You're on, pink one." The two turned off their phones, and ate their food with the others, while Starheart grilled the manager. After finishing their meal, the group quickly left the Cafe. By now, night had fallen over Inkopolis.

"I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner, Sarge," Briki said apologetically. "We were about to start a turf war, when I mentioned that you were eating at the cafe."

"And I ran over as quickly as I could," Star said, as she exited the Cafe. "That guy has a reputation for being a snob. If the owner would allow it, I'm sure he would make that place exclusive to league players." Starheart's expression was rather disgusted. "I figured he would try to start something with you guys."

"Thanks, Star. I guess that's two I owe you," Otome said.

"Who's keeping count?" Star responded with a shrug. "But if you want to pay me back, join me in a turf war along with Briki. For now, I need to get back to base. See you later." Star departed, and the rest of the group decided it was time to break up, and head home.

"Sorry about the cafe. I suppose we should have gone to Kelp Burger," Levin said.

"Yeah, the atmosphere is a lot better in Arowana," Kirk added. "I think we should all head home now, though." The group agreed, and after they said their goodbyes, the Inklings headed home, Kelly returned to Ceph, and Briki lead the others to the apartment she shared with her sister.

"Even though my sister isn't home, this isn't a very big apartment, "Briki said, as they entered the small dwelling. "We only have one bedroom." Tanner's face changed into a smirk.

"Well, that's okay. I'm sure Yako and I can snuggle up on the be-" Before he could finish, Otome grabbed Tanner by the tentacles, and yanked him into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"What did he mean by that?" Yako asked, as they listened to the enraged shouting from the bedroom. Briki and Drake exchanged glances at each other.

"I think you are a little too young to know about that," Drake said, and Briki nodded in agreement. Yako started to protest, but then the door burst open, and the bruised Tanner was pushed out.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Otome roared.

"Yes, my mistress!" He responded, while rubbing his head.

"TANNER!"

"Okay, okay! I swear I will not leave the living room, ma'am!"

"You'd better not! Drake, you have permission to use him for target practice if he tries anything." Briki and Yako joined Otome in the bedroom, and she slammed the door behind her. Drake settled down on the couch, while Tanner curled up on the floor.

"Man, you really are a lucky dogfish. How did you get on Otome's good side? She's cute, but so ornery," Tanner said.

"Actually, I think that's just towards you," Drake responded.

…

Jack was being dragged through an unfamiliar hallway by a pair of Octolings. He slowly started to regain consciousness, as the clacking of their boots on the metal floor echoed through the narrow passage. Eventually, his captors stopped in front of a large metal door.

"Just throw him in here, for now," Jade said, and the Octolings hoisted him up and tossed him into the cell. As they slammed the door behind them, Jack looked towards the Inkling that had been giving them orders.

"How much are they paying you, traitor?" Jack asked. The Inkling gave him a sharp glare, and turned away.

"Boss? What brings you here?" Jade asked a figure that was just outside Jack's field of view

"I just needed to get away from that loudmouth idiot we brought back with us," the figure responded.

"You mean Octavio, sir?"

"Who else? I don't know what he was thinking by asking me to rescue Octavio."

"He? Who, sir?"

"Never you mind. So what's the deal with the prisoner?"

"We captured him snooping around Ceph, and I thought it might be a good idea to find out what he knows. He also had a very unusual weapon with him." Jack saw Jade hand the revolver to the figure. "Shall I send it down to the lab?"

"Hmm, no, I think I will keep this with me. By the way, where is Pearl?"

"She's still on the surface." The two figures left the cell bay, and were out of earshot.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one they nabbed today." Jack turned towards the voice that originated from the back of the cell. A male Octoling was sitting on the bed. He wore a white coat that was stained with ink in several places. "Before you ask, the name is Doctor Leviay. Octarian science division. And no, I don't know why they brought you here."

"Can you at least tell me who they are?" Jack asked his new cellmate.

"I don't know that either. Ex-Mariner, ex-Guardian Corps, Inklings... All I know is that they want me to work on improving Octavio's Octobot."

"Why don't you just refuse? We can probably break out, given enough time."

"It's not that simple. They took something from me... and did you not hear them say something about the surface? Take a look for yourself." The Octoling pointed to the porthole shaped window above him. Jack stood up on the bed, and peaked out.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

…

One week later...

"There is still no sign of the missing Inkling, Jackson Shireston." Otome was watching the news report at Briki's apartment. The case the squid sisters were reporting on, had apparently occurred just as they were getting back to Inkopolis, and likely had something to do with Octavio's escape. "The army is still looking for clues, but has yet to find any leads on his whereabouts. Though, it is believed that the kidnapper is the same party that murdered his partner, Owen," Marie said.

"Thanks again to all those who attended Owen's services," Callie said sadly.

"Owen's murder happened late at night in the ruins of Ceph, the previous week. He was discovered by the Octarian cultural exchange group. They quickly alerted the army, who confirmed his death from an Inkling charger," Marie continued. It was actually Kelly that had found the body.

"Jack was working with Owen on a special case, and that makes it more likely that the murder and kidnapping are related. If you have any information, please notify the army or the police, as soon as you can." The two signed of, forgoing their usual 'stay fresh' routine.

"Well, I guess I had better wake those slackers up," Otome said to herself. While it was still fairly early, for an Octarian, it was far past the time they should have woken up. Otome turned around, and looked down at Tanner, who had slept through the report. "Wake up, boy wonder," said Otome, loudly.

"Five more minutes, ma-" Tanner was interrupted by a fist to the stomach. "Oof- Damn, sarge! Violent much?" Ignoring him, Otome banged on the bedroom door a few times, and after a few minutes, Briki and Yako emerged with groggy faces.

"You know, sleeping in is part of the Inkling culture. I thought we were supposed to adapt to their traditions," Briki said, and Yako barely managed to nod in agreement.

"Nice try, Rainbow, but Octurus didn't order us to actually become Inklings. Get your act together! We have turf war training today." After several rounds of bickering during breakfast, Otome somehow managed to get her squad back into proper formation, and they made their way towards the plaza.

"Have you noticed that dear leader has been rather uptight since her human boyfriend left the city?" Tanner whispered to Briki, as they got on the tram.

"Uh, you know those two aren't dating, right?" Briki responded. "I mean, I normally wouldn't care, but he isn't even an Oceanic, let alone an Octarian. That's just a little too abnormal."

"Seriously? I thought for sure that they were an item by now."

"That explains why she's the only female you haven't hit on yet," Briki said with a sigh.

"What?! Sis isn't going out with-" Briki quickly covered Yako's mouth, and Otome gave them a sharp look. The tram came to a stop, and the squad moved towards the transport lobby. On the way, they passed the cafe, which for the past week had a sign that said, "Closed for renovations".

"Are you here for lessons too?" A female Inkling asked them when they entered the lobby. Otome nodded in response. "Oh, you're the Octoling from the special match the other day. You probably don't remember me, but my name is Sandy. My squad also signed up for extra practice, along with some friends of ours."

At that moment, Levin, Shara, Kirk and Neptune exited the lobby, and were followed by Frost, Bass, Citra and an unfamiliar female Inkling. "Man, that chick doesn't let up," Levin whined, as he rubbed his back. "I'd hate to see the kind of hell she puts her regular recruits through."

"That just goes to show how out of shape you are," Shara replied, looking somewhat smug. "I found that little refresher to be rather stimulating, and you can't tell me you didn't learn anything." The four agents started to head out, when they noticed Otome's squad.

"Heya, Otome," Kirk said, as they walked past. "If you're here for training, you should talk to Iris over there. As for us, we have to meet the squid sisters at Octovalley."

"Can we please get something to eat first? I'm dying here," Levin continued to whine.

"No can do. We don't have time, now that the cafe is out of commission," Shara responded.

"Yeah, well don't think I've forgotten about that bowl of ramen you owe me!" Neptune said, as the group left for Octovalley in the pipe.

As the squad approached, Frost looked over, and gave Otome a glare. "Oh, great. More red heads. Sandy, your switching with me," Frost said, and left before anybody could protest.

"Hello, Otome. I look forward to playing with you again," Citra said with a smile. Shocking the rest of her team, Otome smiled back.

"Tell me you aren't the other group scheduled for today," the other female said, as she looked over Otome's squad.

"Yeah, what of it?" Otome responded.

"Great. First those wannabe soldiers, and now Octarians. I miss the camp Triggerfish brats already." She rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "Well, I'm Iris, the instructor. I normally work with younger children, but for what ever reason, they sent me to deal with you guys."

"Sorry about her," Bass said. "She was already in a bad mood when she got here, and Frost and Levin made it a lot worse."

"Quiet, you! Or do you want to go 1V1 again?" Bass quickly shut up, due to the cold glare he was getting from Iris.

"Now, then. Are you registered with the S.P.A.W.N. system? Weapons? Gear?" Iris said, questioning their readiness.

"We will be using our uniforms. Briki and I, were already in the system, and we got Tanner and Yako registered last night. As for weapons," Otome held up her Octoshot replica.

"Kelp charger," Briki said, showing her sniping weapon.

"I got my inkbrush, hot stuff," said Tanner.

"Whaaaa! Why do I get the toy?" Yako complained, holding up her splattershot Jr. that she had received from the starter kit.

"Don't underestimate the Jr. kid," Iris responded. "Next, explain how you are going to match our colors?"

"Squad! Tampering capsules!" Otome barked, and the four dropped the cylinders into their ink tanks, which changed their purple into Inkling purple. "That good enough for you?"

"I suppose I really have to do this then. Fine, follow me." Iris lead the rest of Frost's team to her transport pad, while Otome's took position on the other. Iris set the conditions for the custom match, and they were all sent to Piranha Pit.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Yako yelled with delight, as they came down to their respective base pad. The four Octolings landed, and shifted to their bipedal form.

"Yako, you know I love you to death, but you need to grow up a little," Otome said, and her sister pouted. "Iris, what do you want us to do?" She asked over the communicator.

"Just do a dry run for now. It will be easier for me to get an idea on where to start. Oh, and don't expect me to go easy on you, just because you're tourists." The communicator went silent, and Otome started issuing orders.

"Tanner, go left. Briki, center conveyor platform. Yako, cover her. I'm going right, and remember that the goal is coverage!" The group moved out, and Otome went to work marking the area to the right of the conveyor platform. As she neared the corner, she checked the auto map to see how her teammates were progressing. However, none of them were where they should be. All 3 beacons were on the far side of the center platform, and none of them were moving. Puzzled, Otome swam around the corner, to see what was going on.

"Are you a professional tentacle stylist? Because I can see myself in their elegant shine." It was immediately apparent what had disrupted the team, as they were staring at Tanner with utter disbelief. On the opposite side, Bass, Citra and Sandy were staring with equally dumbfounded expressions. In the center, was Tanner, who was aggressively hitting on Iris.

"Is that all you got, letch?" Iris responded with even colder stares.

"Oh, so cold. Why don't you let me warm-" his speech was cut off by an quick and unexpected shot from Iris' squiffer. As Tanner was pulled back to his pad, Iris dove into the ink, and effortlessly moved through the ink Otome had already covered. When Tanner regained his form, he attempted to leave the pad, but was immediately shot when he left the cover of the shield. He tried again, but was hit with the same result.

"Hey, quit it!" Tanner yelled. As he tried to exit the pad a third time, he rolled to the left, and jumped off the left side of the platform, which cause Iris' ink stream to narrowly miss.

"Now you're learning something, boy!" Iris said, as she moved onto the center conveyor, and again, shot tanner when he moved into range. The other players simply stood in place, and watched the now 1v1 match between Tanner and Iris. It came to an end when Tanner was splatted in the air by a shot from Iris, as he attempted to dive off the center conveyor platform. The match ended, and all 8 combatants were sent back to the lobby.

"Well, that wasn't a complete waste of time. I feel so much better," Iris said, as she stretched out her arms. "And you can't say he didn't learn something." Tanner was standing at the back of the lobby, and was refusing to even look at Iris. "For the next round, I'll have you do a 4v3, while I observe and give instructions. Oh, and if anyone shoots me even once, I'll tear those soda cans you call armor, into scrap." Iris set up the next round on the console, and the group was sent back to Piranha.

The starting signal blew, and Otome had the team move in the same formation. Otome again moved to the right corner, and stopped to check her surroundings. "Leader! Get in your ink!" Iris barked. Otome dove into a stream she had made on the wall, and waited. A few seconds later, Bass came around the corner, and was covering the territory she had just marked, with his roller. Otome jumped from her hiding spot, and shot Bass several times in the back.

"Not cool!" He got out, just before he was sent back to his base. Otome quickly recovered the lost territory, and moved to the center platform to check on Briki, only to see her splatted by a shot from Citra.

"Runt! Shield!"

"EEEEEEH! SHOOT!" Yako, who had fallen off the conveyor, quickly put up he shield, just as Citra had fired another shot. The stream bounced off the bubbler, and Yako quickly flicked a bomb at Citra, which exploded right next to her catwalk perch.

"She really is good with bombs," Otome said to herself.

"Sniper! Jump, now!" Iris barked. Otome stepped out of the way, as the automap signaled that Briki had jumped to her. Otome moved to where Tanner was, while inking territory along the way.

"Letch! Quit flirting, and use your mobility to your advantage!" Tanner, who was dodging shots from Sandy's jet squelcher, jumped into his ink, and swam behind the small ramp next to the flat conveyor that Sandy was standing on. He popped out on her side, and quickly splatted her with a few swipes. He didn't have time to gloat, however, as Bass dropped down on top of him, and was made short work of by the Krak-on roller.

"Sniper, shift, and fire!" Briki quickly moved to the other side of the raised conveyor, and took out Bass before he could hide in his ink. "Now step up your coverage! This isn't just about splats!" After quickly marking the area around the enemy base, Otome fell back to claim the areas to the left of the center conveyor. She passed by Tanner, who moved into the lower areas, and spotted Yako being chased by Sandy.

"Where yah going, friend?" Sandy was using her range advantage to keep Yako from getting in range with her own weapon.

"Inkzooka!" Iris yelled, and Otome tapped her automap. As the Inkzooka morphed into place, she took aim, and hit sandy with a blast.

"Thanks, sis!" Yako yelled, but before Otome could respond, a shot from Citra sent Otome back to her pad. With Iris giving them instructions, the Octoling team was able to mark more than enough territory to claim the game, while keeping their losses to a minimum. The group of 8 was sent back to the lobby again.

"Okay, this time I will be playing, so use what you have learned!" Iris hit the console, and the Octolings were sent to the pit, once again. While their new knowledge of turf tactics were a big help, they were no match for Iris, who was using her quick charge squiffer to zip around the map, and cover her teammates. The Octolings had lost the third match, badly. They spent the next hour doing similar drills and practice matches.

"Well, that wasn't too bad for a first day, I guess." Iris said, as she bagged up her equipment. "I expected a lot more from the Octarian army, though."

"I thought they did pretty good," Sandy chimed in. "I mean, yeah their tactics sucked, but their pretty good with their weapons. I don't see what Frost's problem was. I swear, he can be such a baby."

"I had a lot of fun, too!" Citra added. She had become a lot less shy lately.

"Anyway, If you want another lesson, then you will have to sign up the same way you did last time. And I suggest you put the dogfish on a leash!" Iris gave Tanner another icy glare, and left the lobby.

"We're going to get some lunch at Arowana. You coming with?" Bass asked, as the rest of the group exited the lobby.

"No, I think we will just head back to our apartment. Besides, our redness has gotten us kicked out of more than one place."

"I-I see. Well, I'll see you later, Otome." Citra waved, and followed Bass and Sandy to the tram station. Otome's squad was about to leave too, when a voice called them from behind.

"Otome! There you are!" Callie came running towards Otome. She was out of breath, and was wearing her disguise. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for the past hour. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"What? My phone didn't.. oh... I forgot that I turned it off during training." Otome took her phone out, and saw that Callie had tried to call her about 20 times and left a number of emote code texts. "Sorry, Callie. Well, what is it you wanted? And where is Marie?"

"About that," Callie said, as she glanced around to see if anyone was listening in. "We had an incident while on patrol. Marie and Shara were hurt pretty bad, and are in the hospital. Neptune is also missing, and we think she was captured."

"What?! Was it Octavio?"

"We aren't sure, since they're both unconscious. Drake's waiting at the studio. Let's pick him up, then go to the hospital."

"What should we do, Sarge?" Tanner asked.

"You three can go back to the apartment. You're dismissed for the day."

"Understood," Briki responded. "I sure hope Marie is okay.." The three Octolings departed for Flounder Heights. After picking up Drake, who was drenched in sweat and wearing combat gear, Callie lead them to the hospital, and headed towards where Marie was recovering. Kirk was pacing outside the room Marie was currently recovering in.

"C-Callie? You're back," he said when he saw the group approach.

"How is she, Kirk?" Callie asked.

"I-I don't know. The Doctors are with her now, and the won't let any one in. B-but Shara isn't in danger anymore. Levin is with her in the other room."

"Marie.." Callie's expression was pained, and she looked down.

"Don't worry, Callie." Drake said, noticing her state. "Marie is strong. I guarantee that she will be alright."

"Y-yeah, she might be the strongest out of all the agents!" Kirk added.

"T-thanks, g-guys," Callie managed to say. Drake lead her over to the benches, and she sat down next to him. He held her close as she trembled, and Otome put her hand on Callie's shoulder. After some time, the door opened, and an Inkling doctor came out of the room.

"Miss Callie? Marie has woken up, and you can see her now."

"R-really? Did you hear that? She's okay-" Before Kirk could finish, Callie rushed into the room. Seeing her cousin awake, she ran to her side and embraced Marie.

"Ow- that's- Ow, Callie! Go easy on the wounded, would you?" Marie said.

"B-but I was so worried about you!" Callie responded.

"Yeah, I know. I'm fine, see? Sorry I worried you, Cal"

"She's pretty lucky. There were no external injuries, but if she had taken on any more ink, she could have died. Same for the other one you brought in," the doctor said. "The de-splatting is finished, but she needs a little more time to rest before I can release her."

"That's great news!" Kirk said. "Now we just need to rescue Neptune."

"Oh, yeah! Starheart's team is searching for her now, but is there anything you can tell us about that? Did you see who kidnapped her?" Callie asked.

Marie put on a strange expression. "Kidnapped? That's not what happened."

**A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:**

**Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Jade and Pearl – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Iris - Luna - Splatoon animo**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jade and Pearl – Vortextion\Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Iris - Luna - Splatoon animo


	24. 3.2 – Turned Colors

A throbbing head, and a dull ache all over her body. These were the first things that Shara's senses registered, as she regained consciousness. While her vision was blurred, Shara looked around the room that she had woken up in. The white floor, walls and ceiling, as well as the medical equipment, made it clear to her that she was in the hospital.

"Ugh, that's right. I was splatted. I thought I was dead for sure," Shara said to herself. She then heard a low groan to her right. "What the?" Turning, she saw that Levin was sitting on a chair next to the bed. His head was bent over and resting on the side of her bed. He appeared to be sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position. "Why are you here?"

"Nyuhhhgh" Levin let out an unusual groan, and slowly lifted his head from the bed. "S-Shara?" He said, as he slowly opened his eyes. His tentacle pins had been undone, and they were dropped down the sides of his head. "You're awake?"

"I just woke up. My head is throbbing, but I think I'm-" Shara was interrupted as Levin jumped on the bed, and pulled her into an embrace. "Wha? WHA? WHAT!? WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! GET OFFA ME!" Shara attempted to push him away, but was too weak, due to the recent de-splatting. "Dammit, Levin! That hurts!"

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? How we all were?" Levin shot back. "I thought you were going to die! I thought it was going to be just like what happened with Owen!"

"Th-that may be true, b-but that doesn't mean-"

"You of all people should know what I was put through! Remember how freaked out you were at Kelp Dome?" Shara had no counter for this, and stopped protesting. "If we had lost you- I- I don't know if I could live with myself..."

"I-I'm fine now, see?" Shara slowly pushed him off, and stretched out to show him that she was recovering. "But at least you finally understand how dangerous our... job is."

"I didn't need another demonstration, you know! But hey, since you're awake, I brought a little something for you. I'll be right back." Levin left the room, which left Shara rather confused. A few minutes later, he returned with a cup of instant ramen. "Thought you might be a little hungry." He placed a fork in the cup, and dug out some of the ramen. He held the fork towards her, and her face went red when she realized what he was intending to do.

"I don't need to be fed, you moron! I can do it myse- owowow!" Shara winced in pain, as her body was still rather sore.

"Sure you can. Now open wide!" Shara sighed, and obediently opened her mouth for him. Levin wore a satisfied look on his face, as he fed Shara the instant ramen. Despite the irritation she felt, having food in her stomach made her feel considerably better.

"Thanks for the ramen, Levin," Shara said, as he finished feeding her. "But I WILL get you back for this."

"Sure you will," Levin said. "Buy the way, I had these cleaned for you." Levin took out Shara's glasses, and handed them to her. As she put them on, the door opened, and the other Squidbeak agents walked in, followed by Drake and Otome.

"Shara! You're okay!" Kirk said, as he ran over to where Levin was standing.

"I'm fine, but DON'T YOU DARE!" Shara said, as Kirk was about to pull her into a hug the same way Levin did. He looked dejected for a moment, but he quickly put on a smile.

"The doctor told me that you were going to be okay, but I'm still really happy you're awake!"

"Thanks, guys," Shara said, and sat up in the bed. "How is Marie doing?"

"She's also awake. They said that both you and her will be able to leave after resting a little longer," Callie responded. "But we want to ask you about what happened. We got the gist of it from Marie, but I think we should go over it again."

"Well, where should I start?" Shara asked.

…

2 hours ago...

"Man, that Iris chick is a slave driver!" Levin whined, as the agents came out of the pipe that connected Inkopolis with Octovalley.

"You're just mad that she totally kicked your butt!" Neptune responded with a smirk. "If you and your dumb friend weren't too busy bickering, you might not have made such easy targets. Try to be at least some challenge next time."

"She didn't have to be so hard on us. Yeah, the lectures were interesting, but I would hate to see what she puts the kids through at Camp Triggerfish."

Shara rolled her eyes, and walked over to where the squid sisters were. Callie and Marie were in their disguises, and sat on the old couch with Cuttlefish. The three were eating Crabby Cakes. Callie saw Shara, and waved her over.

"Hey, you four!" She shouted, and the bickering trio ran to where Shara was standing. "How did the turf lessons go?"

"Don't ask. Those three still won't shut up about it," Shara gave them sharp looks, and they turned away in embarrassment. "So, do you have something for us?"

"It's not another patrol, is it? I can't count how many times we have gone through Ceph and never find anything. It's boring!" Neptune complained.

"Well, we were trying to think of areas we haven't already searched. Besides the domes that the Octarians are actually using, that is," Marie responded.

"Lad, do you remember that amusement park you fought the Octomaw at?" Cuttlefish asked. Levin nodded in response. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but none of you have been there since the incident, right?"

"Amusement Park? You guys went to an amusement park?" Kirk asked, as he gave Levin and Shara astonished looks.

"We weren't there for a holiday, and definitely not what you were thinking," Shara said to Kirk. "That was back when we were looking for the great zapfish. And no, we haven't been there since."

"I thought as much. I can't say if you will find anything, but it's the only place left to look without trespassing on Octarian territory. In the past, I would have taken that risk, but I can't jeopardize the treaty with out proof. I want you to give Ceph one more look before we turn our attention elsewhere." Cuttlefish finished his briefing, and marked the kettle that would take them to the Octarian side of Ceph.

As they exited the Kettle, the group of six took a look at their surroundings. "This place looks a lot bigger than I remember it. This might take a while," Levin said.

"Why don't we split up into teams? We could cover more ground that way," Kirk suggested. Thankfully, he had finally gotten used to the kettles, and didn't need time to recover. "Actually, where did you fight that Octarian super weapon?"

"That was back at the old stadium. We should probably give it a look over too," Shara responded.

Marie had been looking over a large and somewhat faded map of the area. "Okay, here's the play. Shara and Neptune will go with me to check out the stadium and the near side of the park. Callie will take the boys to clear the far side."

"Oh, so it's girls versus boys. Sounds like fun," Levin said, looking fired up.

"So Callie is a boy now?" Neptune responded, trying to shoot him down.

"Actually, that might be fun!" Callie responded, missing Neptune's remark. "Callie's boys against Marie's angels."

"Really, Callie? Where on a- oh forget it. Nothing I say will change your mind. Come on, 'angels', let's get this over with before somebody gets themselves splatted." Marie started making a trail with her charger, and dove in the ink, while Shara and Neptune swam behind her. After repeating the maneuver several times, they ended up in front of the stadium. "Shara, you've already been here, so you take lead." Shara nodded in response, and the tri-squad entered the stadium.

The place hadn't changed much since the battle with the Octomaw, though there was some left over shrapnel from the metal body. As they slowly made their way to the center of the battle arena, Marie saw something out of the corner of her eye. "Contact!" Marie raised her charger, but the figure darted into a hallway that lead to the shower rooms.

"Was it an Octarian?" Shara asked.

"I couldn't tell. Neptune, you go first. We'll watch your back." Neptune lead the way into the lower hallways. They moved in slowly, while Marie was watching the rear, and Shara supported Neptune. As they neared the shower rooms, the figure appeared again. It darted from the right side of the hall, and into the main locker room.

"Damn, I couldn't get a good look at it," Shara hissed. The three stacked up outside the door, and pondered what to do.

"It's pretty obvious we're being lead into a trap. There's probably a dozen of them waiting inside to shoot us the second we open the door," Neptune said.

"Then let's try a little something I learned from Drake," Marie responded, and handed a splat bomb to Shara. "Neptune, stand on the other side of the door. When I give the signal, open the door, and Shara and I will toss our bombs inside. Then we rush in at the same time." Neptune did as she was told, and placed her hand on the door handle. "Now!"

Neptune pulled down on the handle, and kicked the door open. Shara and Marie tossed the bombs inside, which exploded a second later. The three rushed in the room, expecting an ink fight. Instead, they just saw two small puddles of orange ink and an empty locker room. "What the hell? Where did he go?" Shara looked around for any sign of the figure.

"He couldn't have just up and vanished. Let's take a closer look, but stay on guard," Marie responded. With Shara leading, they moved around the left row of lockers, and slowly advanced to the other side of the room. When they reached the far end of the row of lockers, they suddenly heard a beeping sound.

"Ink mine!" Neptune grabbed Shara's arm and pulled, just as the mine exploded right under their feet.

…

"What the... it's gone?" Drake had spent the last week catching up on all the reports and paper work that had been piling up ever since the humans were brought out of stasis. He had finished the last of the work, and had opened his locker to grab something, when he saw that the black box from the escape pod had vanished. "This isn't good," Drake said, and frantically searched the barracks to see if one of the guards had swiped it.

"What's with all the noise, Drake? Did you lose your ration cards again?" Brandon asked, as he entered the room.

"If that were the case, I wouldn't be so desperate right now. No, the black box is missing." Drake responded.

"Are you sure you didn't leave it somewhere?"

"Yeah, because I totally carry it around with me. I know for a fact that I put it back in my locker after that... incident." Drake turned his attention back to the locker. "There aren't any signs that it was forced open, so there's only one other person who could have taken-"

"OFFICER VON KAUFMANN TO THE CONTROL ROOM NOW!" A voice screamed over the announcement system.

"Mclarrin," They both said. Brandon shook his head, and he followed Drake out of the barracks.

In the control room, Mclarrin was standing by a console and looking royally pissed, while Manfred, Doctor Harkov, and a few other senior staff members were trying to calm her down. Sitting on the console, was the missing black box. "Do you know what this is?" Mclarrin asked Drake.

"The black box from the escape craft," Drake responded, while bracing himself.

"And do you know what was on it? And for that matter, explain why this was sitting in your locker."

"I do know, and we found it on the surface on our first trip up."

"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU HIDE THIS FROM ME!" She exploded in response.

"Bridget, you need to calm-"

"SHUT UP, MANFRED! YOU AREN'T COVERING FOR HIM THIS TIME!"

"I didn't intend to hide it," Drake responded. "I just didn't want people panicking. Or acting the way you are, for that matter. This just proves that we aren't ready for this information."

"Ma'am, if I may," Brandon interrupted. "Even Drake wasn't prepared for what was on that drive. Back in the barracks, he," Brandon paused, and exchanged a glance with Drake. "He almost killed himself."

"What?! Is this true?" Manfred was shocked at this revelation, and looked at his son with deep concern. "Drake, why didn't you tell me?"

"It's true," Drake responded, and explained the details of the incident. "If it wasn't for my friends, both the human and oceanic ones, I would have pulled the trigger. So you see, Mclarrin." Drake turned to face his commanding officer. "I had a damn good reason to keep this from getting out."

"I can see why you would hide that from the civilians, but that doesn't change the fact that you HID VITAL INFORMATION FROM ME! I HAVE BEEN WORKING MY ASS OFF TO KEEP THIS FACILITY RUNNING, AND YOU CAN'T EVEN KEEP ME IN THE LOOP!"

"And as I said before,"

"NO MORE EXCUSES!" Mclarrin roared. "I have tolerated your insubordination for the last time. You are hereby banished from Eden!"

"Commander, you are being unreasonable," Manfred tried to cut in. "After all, if it wasn't for Drake, the rest of the staff would still be-"

"I said to stay out of this! He can go frolic with those starfish he's so attached to, for all I care!"

"Actually, they are Squids and Octo-"

"Shut up, Drake! Pack your shit, and get the hell out! And now that I think about it, the entire security force has been nothing but a-"

"BRIDGET!" Manfred yelled, which surprised everyone in the room. "As executive officer and lead scientist, I hereby relieve you of command."

"What!? HOW DARE YOU! ON WHAT GROUNDS?" Mclarrin yelled back.

"Doctors orders," Harkov cut in. "You're behavior and refusal to submit to my many requests for an examination, leave me no choice, but to declare you psychologically unfit for duty."

"What is this mutiny?" Mclarrin was wide eyed at the sudden dissent of her top officers.

"As acting commander, I order you to get some rest for the next few days. After which, you WILL report to medical for an examination." Manfred turned to Drake. "And obviously, the exile order has been belayed."

"You can't do this- I'll-" Mclarrin stopped, and she realized that her authority had been completely stripped, and none of the other senior staff were backing her up. "FINE! I NEVER WANTED THIS ANYWAY!" Screaming, Commander Mclarrin stormed out of the command center.

"Well, that was awkward, but at least we didn't lose our chief of security," Brandon said. "Stupid bitch was just taking it out on you."

"Easy, Brandon," Manfred said in a calm tone. "You can't imagine the amount of stress she must be in. We're the last humans left on earth, and she has the burden of having our lives in her hands. It's not surprising that something like this would cause her to snap."

"Perhaps so," Drake said, and shrugged. "But thanks for the back up, guys. I'm gonna put this back in my locker, if there are no objections." Drake unplugged the black box, and picked it up.

"I would say burn the damned thing, but they will have to hear the truth at some point," Harkov said.

"Still, I think this whole thing just proves we aren't ready," Manfred responded.

…

"This roller coaster must have been awesome back in the day!" Callie squealed, as she looked over the old amusement park rides. While most of the attractions were broken beyond repair, that didn't stop her excitement from surfacing. The whole team seemed to have forgotten that they were on the clock.

"Y-yeah, I would love to ride that with you too!" Kirk said, with an odd expression.

"Quit trying to impress Callie, dude," Levin said, as he came over from examining another ride. "I'll bet you're a Ferris wheel type of guy, anyway."

"I so am not!"

"Now, now," Callie said to the bickering boys. "Ferris wheels can be fun too. I'll bet every ride was awesome!" The group had finished their sweep of the amusement park, and had turned up nothing. They started to head back towards the stadium to meet with Marie's team.

"I really wish we could have seen this place before the war," Kirk said.

"I'll bet it was a great place for a date," Levin chimed in. "Especially with all those cute Octolings. Man, Ceph must have been the bomb."

"Funny you mention dates," Callie said, and started to laugh a little. "Gramps used to tell us stories about this place. He always liked to tell the one where he brought an Octoling on a date, just before the war started." This caused Levin to also start laughing.

"Oh, yeah. He mention that once. I just can't picture him with an Octoling."

"Aye, and what a gal she was, Bucko," Callie said, in an effort to impersonate Cuttlefish. While she wasn't as skilled as her cousin, it caused the whole team to erupt in laughter.

"Har har, that's real funny," Cuttlefish's voice cut in on the communicator. "See if I tell you any more war stories. Now, have you found anything?"

"Sorry, Gramps. The amusement park is completely empty."

"I don't get it," Kirk said. "You guys said this area was loaded with Octarians, but we haven't seen any, let alone Inkling traitors." Suddenly, Marie's voice cut in over the communicator.

"Callie! They ambushed us at the stadium and- Ahh! AAAAACCKK!"

"Marie? MARIE!" Callie quickly changed forms, and dove into the ink trails that they had made on the way in.

"She must still be in the stadium! You need to get over there, pronto!" Cuttlefish cried.

"Right, we're on it!" Levin and Kirk also switched forms, and followed Callie down the trail, towards the old turf stadium.

…

Three agents of squidbeak were lying on the ground. Shara and Neptune had been paralyzed by the ink mine, and Marie had been shot in the back several times by a pair of Octolings. "Hook, line, and sinker," a voice said from behind the two Octolings. From the other side of the row of lockers, four Inklings emerged.

"What?! YOU!" Shara roared, as she recognized the Inkling in the front.

"You were always pretty good about avoiding mines, Shara, but I knew just where to place it. I guess that's one good thing that came out of our time together," Shara's ex-boyfriend, Gull, laughed at how he had managed to trap the girl that made a fool of him. His teammates nodded with equally satisfied looks.

"What the hell, Gull? This is a new low, even for you. What? Did they promise to let you cheat in turf wars, or something?" Shara said, while giving him the coldest look she could manage.

"Cheating? No, my dear ex girlfriend. If anything, we're going to make turf wars a hell of a lot more exciting. Not to mention that the pay is great too."

"So it's money you're after? Wow, Gull. Betraying your race for such a stupid reason. You know, I used to regret what I did in the tournament, but all of you can go get eaten by a land shark!"

"And I was considering keeping you as a pet, but I think I'll just kill you now." Gull raised his aerospray, intending to finish Shara off.

"Hold on!" Neptune yelled from the back, which caused Gull to pause. "How much money are you talking here?"

"Neptune! What are you doing?" Shara asked, while giving her a stunned look.

"Oh, just little more than even the best league player makes," Gull said with smug look.

"That means your boss can afford a few extra hands, right?" Neptune asked. Gull thought for a minute, then his lips moved into one of the most evil smiles anyone had ever seen.

"Sounds like one of you might have a brain inside her. We aren't too picky about who we bring in, but I'll need to give you a little test first. Insure your loyalty, you know." Gull took an octoshot and a Squee-G from one of the Octolings. He picked up the .52 gal, and de-splatted Neptune with the robot. After she was back on her feet, he handed her the octoshot.

"Any reason you can't just give my gal back?" Neptune asked.

"You think I'm an idiot? I know that's loaded with your own colors." Gull turned towards the other two paralyzed Inklings. "I thought about splatting you myself, but I think it will be more fun to watch you get betrayed. You know, the same way you did me, back at the tourney." Gull turned back towards Neptune. "Splat them."

"W-what? Neptune! Y-you wouldn't!" Shara glared, as her teammate turned towards her. Neptune was doing her best to hide her emotions, and Shara couldn't tell what was going through her mind. This scared her even more.

"Sorry, Shara," she said, as she raised the octoshot.

"W-wait! I'm the one you want, Gull! Leave Marie out of this!"

"Don't listen to her, Neptune!" Marie cut in. "I was the one who decided to come here, and I was the one who showed you up at the splatfest match. Splat me instead!"

"Who said this was a negotiation?" Gull snapped. "I never liked you snotty little excuses for idols. Splat them both, or the deal is off!" Neptune swallowed hard, and pointed the weapon at Marie. Using the last of her strength, Marie activated the communicator.

"Callie! They ambushed us at the stadium and- Ahh! AAAAACCKK!" Neptune fired a single shot at Marie, who fell back into the ink puddle, and went unconscious. Then she did the same to Shara.

"Well, I'll be damned. She actually did it! Welcome to the team, Neptune." Gull took back the octoshot, and handed Neptune her .52 gal. "I'll make sure you're added to our squad, and I'm sure the boss will give us bonuses for this catch," Gull said.

"Lucky me," Neptune muttered under hear breath.

"Wait a minute! They're still alive!" One of the Octolings had gone to make sure the two Inklings were in fact dead, and discovered that they were only in a coma.

"Yeah, and? Even if somebody finds them, there's no way that they will be able to get them to a hospital in time. Which reminds me, think we can catch the other little snot?" Gull asked, referring to the fact that Marie had tried to call out to Callie.

"I wouldn't try that," Neptune responded. "We were just a scouting party. When the rest of the army shows up, you aren't going to want to be here."

"I thought those were army uniforms. You make a good point. Alright, boys and girls, let's get back to base and collect our just rewards!" Gull signaled for his squad to follow him, and Neptune stuck with the two Octolings as they left the stadium.

"Neptune..." Shara had remained barely conscious during the exchange, and was starting to black out. "How... could... you..."

…

Hurry, guys!" Callie was moving through the stadium rather quickly.

"Slow down, Callie! I'm worried about Marie too, but what if we fall into the same trap they did?" Kirk was trying to get her to listen to reason, as she zipped around the stadium. They made their way into the same hallway that Marie's team had followed.

"There's no time for that!" Callie yelled. "Marie! Can you here me?" A muffled voice could be heard in the nearby locker room. "She must be in here!" Callie kicked the door open, and rushed inside with her roller raised. Kirk and Levin quickly followed her inside. "Marie!" Callie yelled, and they could hear her voice from Marie's communicator.

"It's Shara too! Kirk, get over here!" Levin yelled.

"One second! I'm trying to make sure we don't get ambushed!" Kirk yelled back, while clearing the room for threats. After deciding that the assailants had left, he rushed over to where the rest of the team was. "O-oh, this looks bad," he said, and knelt down.

"Callie! Use this!" Levin said, and tossed her a Squee-G. As Callie let the robot get to work on her cousin, Levin used one on Shara.

"This isn't working! She isn't waking up!" Callie cried.

"Y-yeah, but their breathing looks less pained. I think we bought them some time, but we need to get them to the hospital," said Kirk, who was trying not to panic.

"I'll take care of Shara. Can you help Callie with Marie?" Levin asked, as he lifted Shara in his arms.

"Y-yeah, of course," Kirk replied, and went to Callie's side. "Callie, I'll help you. Let me take this side, and you take the other."

"T-thank you, Kirk," Callie responded, and the two lifted Marie with their shoulders. "I should probably get a hold of Otome and Drake when we get to the hospital." The group left the stadium, and made their way back to the kettle as quickly as they could.

"Wait a minute," Kirk said, as they reached their destination. "Did any body see Neptune?"

…

"What do you mean something happened to Mclarrin?" Drake was talking to Reggie over the radio. It hadn't even been an hour since she had been relieved of command by Manfred.

"I think it's better that you see for yourself. We need you to confirm the investigation report, anyway," Reggie responded.

"Alright, I'm on my way." Drake turned off the radio, and ran towards Mclarrin's quarters as fast as he could. After running past several confused staffers, he reached her room, and saw that Brandon and Takeshi were standing guard.

"What happened?" Drake asked the two guards.

Brandon and Takeshi exchanged glances. "I think you'd better just go in and get the details from Reggie," Takeshi responded. This must have been serious for Takeshi to not joke around. As Drake entered the room, it was immediately obvious why. Reggie and Matt were standing around a pool of blood by Mclarrin's bed. In the center of the pool, lay Commander Mclarrin. Justin was bent over her body, and was performing an examination on the scene.

"We think it was a suicide," Reggie said, when he spotted Drake. "Gun shot to the head at point blank range from her personal side arm."

"How can we be sure it wasn't a murder?" Drake responded.

"Because I was the one who found the body," Matt responded. "I happened to be walking by, when I heard the shot. There was nobody else in the room when I entered."

"And I already checked the gun for prints. The only prints on weapon, were her own." Justin said with out looking up. "You can thank all those detective games I used to play."

"Before you ask, I'm not wearing gloves," Matt said, as he showed them his hands.

"I wasn't accusing you, Matt," Drake responded. "It makes sense, though. She's been hiding her stress for so long, and the incident at the command center must have finally pushed her over the edge."

"I can confirm that!" Brandon yelled from outside the room.

"I mean, yeah she was a total bitch to us, but I really wish we had noticed sooner," Drake said, as he shook his head. "This is going to be a serious blow for all of us."

"Yeah, I agree," Reggie said. "I don't think anybody wanted this to happen."

"And before you go blaming yourself again, we were all at fault here. The entire base neglected to remember that even though she was the boss, she was still human." Everyone in the room, Including Justin, stopped and stared at Matt. "What? I can feel guilt too, you know. I'm trying to be serious here."

"No, that was well said, Matt," Drake responded.

"I think I have gotten all I can with out doing an actual autopsy," Justin said, and stood up. "Brandon, Can you go make sure the way to the medical lab is clear?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Brandon immediately ran off, and Justin prepared the body for transport. At that moment, Drake's squid phone vibrated, and he saw that he had received the emote code to meet at the studio, and that it was an emergency.

"What is that?" Reggie asked, as he looked at the phone with interest.

"It's the Inkling version of a cell phone," Drake responded. "Damn, what horrible timing."

"I'd love to take that thing apart and see its insides. Well, I got most of the incident report written. If you sign it for me, I'll take this to the command center for you."

"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it." Drake signed the report on Mclarrin's suicide, and handed it to Reggie.

"Well, just remember that we would like to see the city too. Actually, I think Mclarrin was the only one who doesn't want to explore the surface. Talk to your dad about letting us introduce ourselves to the world, and we'll call it even."

"That's a pretty big thing your asking, but I'll give it a shot," Drake responded. He quickly changed into his armored uniform and helmet, and left for the surface.

…

"And that's when we found Otome on our way here," Callie said, who had picked up for Shara when she had finished telling her side of the events that had transpired in the last few hours.

"T-that matches what Marie said perfectly. I guess Neptune really did turn on us," Kirk said with a sad expression. "I still can't believe it."

"I hope she has a damn good explanation for this, or I will personally be feeding her a blaster sandwich!" Levin said with an angry tone. "I can't believe she would hurt Shara for money!"

"I doubt she can even try to defend herself. You heard me tell you that she was interested in the money," Shara snapped.

"T-that may be, but I still think we should give her a chance.." Kirk meekly responded. "I mean.. well-"

"If she surrenders I'll give her a chance, but don't expect me to go out of my way to give her another opportunity to hurt-"

"Levin, That's not your call!" Kirk yelled.

"You're too soft, boy," Otome coldly said. "She hurt our- your friends. It's only natural that the blue one would want payback."

"Otome, I thought we went over the whole revenge thing," Drake said, which caused her to pout. "I know that you're mad too, but we need to keep our cool."

"You- I... Yeah, sorry," she responded. "But I know how much it hurts when someone is harmed because of a back stabbing."

"Guys, we need to stop fighting!" Callie said to get their attention. "The question is, where do we go from here? Ceph was our last lead, and we can't wait for them to hurt anybody else!"

"I think maybe it's time we invade- wait, what are you doing, Kirk?" Shara turned, and saw Kirk staring at his phone.

"I- I don't know. I got this strange message from an unlisted number." Kirk held up his phone, and Callie read the contents out loud. It was a series of numbers, followed by a short message.

"It's a coordinate followed by a time. This looks a lot like the paper that Octoling gave us that gave away Octavio's movements," Shara said.

"Could those elites be trying to help us again?" Levin asked.

"Let me see that!" Marie, who had limped in during the confusion, took the phone.

"Marie! You should be in bed," the alarmed Callie said.

"I could hear you from the next room, and you can't expect me to sleep at a time like this!" Marie responded, and turned her attention to the phone. "These coordinates are... Walleye Warehouse, and the time... something is going to happen two hours from now. Also this message.."

"Bring reinforcements," Shara finished for her. "It's gotta be a trap."

"That's what you said the last time we got one of these," Levin said. "I say we go take care of this ourselves."

"But even with Drake and Otome, we aren't even at full strength!" Kirk chimed in. "If it was the Octarians that sent this, they must think it's going to be something big."

"I can probably get my squad help, though I will hold you responsible if it is a trap," Otome said.

"We probably shouldn't get the army involved, but I can probably get us a few extra hands," Levin added.

"Okay, but Marie, I'm taking you back to bed!" Callie said, as she forced Marie back to her room.

"Fine, but only until we're ready to head out."


	25. 3.3 – Unholy Alliance

"You know, the longer you remain stubborn, the harder it is to control myself." An Inkling was bent over Jack, who was strapped to a chair with an Octarian eel. Jack was covered in numerous bruises and cuts, and was clearly in a lot of pain. For the past week, Jack had been subjected to interrogation by this sadistic inkling, but so far had managed to keep from completely breaking.

"I've already... told you.. everything," Jack muttered to his interrogator.

"Clearly not. That doesn't tell me who hired you, or what you were doing in Ceph," the Inkling responded. "Now, are you going to tell me what I want to hear?" Jack didn't respond, and the Inkling struck him. "I suppose that's enough for now. Can't have you dying just yet." The interrogator went over to the intercom, and called for the guards.

"Guess I'm... pretty important, huh?" Jack said.

"Don't get full of yourself," the Inkling snapped. "It was fun for a while, but I'm getting tired of this game. You just keep that in mind before I start getting rough."

"I guess that was just... cuddling, then," Jack said with sarcasm, as he was released from his restraints. Two Octolings entered the room, and escorted Jack into the hallway. As he limped back towards his cell, he noticed a pink Inkling female approaching them. When she was close enough, Jack pretended to trip and fall forwards, which knocked over the girl.

"You stupid oaf!" One of the Octolings yelled, and pulled him off of the Inkling. After being lifted up, Jack took a look at the person he had run into. His eyes narrowed when he saw who it was.

"Well, if it isn't Jack, the faux detective," she said to him.

"If it isn't Neptune, the faux Inkling," Jack snapped in response.

"You two know each other?" One of the Octolings asked.

"Unfortunately," They both said. The other Octoling hit Jack on his backside, and pointed down the hall.

"This idiot needs to be taken back to his cell. Talk to Jade if you want to hear what his deal is."

"I'll do that. I got time, since my squad won't be apart of the attack on Walleye Warehouse."

"That's today? I guess lord Octavio is eager to get started. Did they say how many were being sent?" The first Octoling asked.

"I think Gull said three squads of Inklings, and three of Octolings," Neptune responded.

"I wish I could go. Even after leaving the Mariners, I still get guard duty," said the second Octoling. "Wait, we shouldn't be talking in front of a prisoner!"

"What's he going to do? Pull a phone out of thin air and call someone on the surface?" Neptune took another look at Jack. "Welp, keep up the good work there, tiger shark." Neptune resumed her walk down the metal corridor, and the Octolings pushed Jack forward again. Eventually, they made it back to the brig, and Jack was forced back into his cell.

"Oh, I will keep up the good work, alright." Jack said to himself. He was finally alone again, since the Octarian scientist had been moved to another location. Taking the phone he had stolen from Neptune's pocket, Jack quickly started writing a text message to the first name on the contact list that Jack recognized, and ignored the fact the phone had an identification scrambler on it.

…

The air was still, in Walleye Warehouse. The area that had been set up as a turf war arena was not in use, and the rest of the building was empty since the work day was over. On the large rear crate, Marie and Citra were lying prone, and had their chargers aimed at the center of the turf arena, with Kirk providing defense from below. Briki was doing the same on the left catwalk, and was supported by Sandy. Callie, along with Frost, Levin, Shara and Bass, were hiding in ink on the backside of the crate stack, in the center of the arena. Otome, Yako, Tanner and Drake, were on the far right ramp.

"They should have arrived by now," Sandy said over the communicator. "Do you think you were duped?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Marie responded. "Let's use this time to go over the plan again. We stay hidden, until they pass the center crate stack. First, the chargers pick off as many as they can. They will probably run for cover, which is Callie's team's cue to drop down behind them, and Otome's team will flank from the right. If we keep them boxed in, we should be able to avoid hitting each other."

"Um, why aren't we using the same colors?" Citra asked.

"Because we don't know what colors they will be using," Marie responded.

"And we don't have that handy ability to use anything but purple ink," Otome cut in.

"O-oh, right. Sorry," Citra said, meekly.

"N-no, I wasn't mad at you or anything, and- TANNER! I swear, if you don't wipe that look off your face, I'll-"

"Miss Marie! We have company!" Briki said, interrupting them. Several figures had jumped through the open skylight that was used by the transport system to move Inklings to and from turf wars. The group of Inklings reverted to their bipedal form, and a number of Octolings jumped in behind them.

"Stay calm, and remember the plan," Marie said, as more figures started jumping through. "Just keep them from breaking through to our side. Pretend it's a game of zones if you have too, but don't get careless. Remember the S.P.A.W.N. system isn't active right now." When the entire opposing force had finished jumping through the skylight, they counted 18 total.

"We're a little outnumbered here," Kirk said, as he finished counting the enemy force. "A-and it looks like Gull's goons weren't the only Inklings on their side."

"Then, let's thin out their numbers a bit. Briki, Citra, on me!" The three snipers aimed down range, as the enemy force started moving towards the center of the turf arena. Three Inklings were leading the group with short range weapons. The Octolings followed behind, and the remaining Inklings were in the rear.

As they passed the crate stack, Marie took aim at the front Inkling, and squeezed off a shot. Taking the stream in the chest, he dropped his tentatek, fell backwards, and went limp. Two more shots from Briki and Citra, took care of the other two Inklings. For a split second, the Octolings froze in shock, but quickly recovered when they saw another shot being lined up from Marie.

"It's an ambush! Abort the oper-" The lead Octoling started to yell.

"Oh, no you don't!" Coming out of the ink that lined the side of the crate stack, Callie dropped down on the Octoling, and slammed her roller into her backside. Bass came down from the opposite side, and took out another two with a single swipe. Enraged, the other Octolings turned their weapons on the two rollers, but were suddenly hit with ink raining on them from above.

"We got them pinned!" Levin said, as he, Shara and Frost took position on top of the crate stacks.

"Back us up, you stupid squids!" One of the Octolings barked. Unable to move forward due to the snipers, the Octolings had no choice but to retreat to the backside of the crate stack, while the remaining rogue Inklings covered them.

"Callie! They're retreating! Let's get em!" Bass yelled, and chased after the retreating Octolings.

"Right! Otome, cut them off!" As Callie joined bass on the left, Otome's group moved in from their hiding spot on the right ramp. Drake dropped an advancing Inkling with a shot to the head, and Tanner quickly made a line to the crate stack with his brush. Otome and Yako quickly changed to their octopus form, and followed behind. Unfortunately, the didn't see that a pair of Inklings had sneaked around behind them, and one came out of his ink on Drake's blind side.

"Ah, shit! Not again!" Unable to act in time, Drake could only watch as a roller was slammed down in front of him. Sprayed from head to toe with ink, Drake fell backwards, and could barely move his arms.

"What the!? YOU ARE NOT KILLING SIS'S BOYFRIEND!" Yako quickly doubled back, and raised her Octoshot as the Inklings turned to her. However, her shots simply bounced off of Tanner's bubbler shield, as he jumped between them, and swiped the roller with his brush. "You aren't taking another splat from me, Tanner!" Yako yelled, and lobbed a splat bomb over the shield. Landing next to the other Inklings, the bomb exploded, and the last inkling fell dead.

"Dammit, Yako! This isn't a game! Man, Otome is going to be pissed," Tanner said, as he turned to the last few remaining Octolings, who were trying to retreat to the skylight.

"They're trying to escape, guys!" Levin yelled from the top of the crate stack. As he splatted an Octoling who was about to jump, a wave of ink from a slosher wielding Octoling knocked him from the top of the crate. He fell, and Shara jumped down and caught him before he landed in a puddle of purple ink.

"Watch it, will you?" She said, as she put him down. "Saying all that tough guy crap to me doesn't give you the excuse to get careless!"

"Can you not do that during a fight!" Frost snapped, as he splatted the last Octoling with his tentatek. "Get a room or something."

"I thought you weren't talking to me anymore," Levin responded between coughs.

"Be thankful to the squids sisters that I'm here at all!"

"Sandy's right. You really are a baby sometimes," Bass said, shaking his head. "It's really embar- CRAP, LOOK OUT!" Out of nowhere, an Inkling with a Dynamo had pushed passed the middle group, and was running towards Marie, Citra and Kirk. "You got one comin' at yah!"

Briki lined up a shot, but missed. Marie and Citra, dove off the back of the large crate they were perched on, which left Kirk to face the Inkling alone. Kirk quick charged his mini splatling, but instead of unloading on the dynamo, he hesitated. This brief moment allowed the dynamo to prepare a swing, and just as he was about to fling ink at Kirk, several shots from above hit the dynamo in the head, and he fell forwards.

"Why didn't you shoot him!?" Sandy said, after she jumped down from above.

"I- I couldn't just... I mean.. He was one of our own.."

"It doesn't matter what race he is! All that matters is that he was a bad guy about to splat you!" Sandy yelled. Kirk didn't respond.

"That's enough," Marie said, as she approached the two. "Kirk, when you hesitate like that, it put us all in danger. We're here to protect Inkopolis, even if that means fighting our own kind. I can't have you putting us at risk, and I'm sure gramps would agree."

"Marie! You didn't have to say it like that!" Callie protested.

"I'm not saying this to be a jerk, Cal." Marie removed her headgear, and relaxed her expression. "Look, gramps may be the leader, but in the field, I'm in charge. And that means you're all my responsibility. I worry about you guys," Marie sighed, and forced a smile. "So if you can't pull the trigger on another Inkling, then I need you to tell me. I'll try to find something else for you to do."

"My old captain, the original security chief, said the same thing to me once," Drake said, and looked at Kirk. "And he was right. Died because one of us didn't pull the trigger when it mattered."

"I-I understand," Kirk responded. "Thanks, Marie. It won't happen again. I can do this!"

"Well, if you're sure, then I'll drop it. But I'm holding you to that."

"I'm sorry, miss Marie. That wouldn't of happened if I hadn't missed," Briki said, and looked down.

"Even the best snipers will miss from time to time," Marie said with a reassuring voice. "You did good today, Briki. You too, Citra."

"Thank you, Marie," They said in unison.

"Yeah, I've never seen an Octoling adapt to one of our weapons like that. I knew we made the right choice helping you escape from Kelp Dome!" Callie chimed in.

"What about me? I finally got my first splat!" Yako said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you did good, kid," Drake responded, who had recovered from the ink paralysis. He gently rubbed Yako's head, and she giggled a bit.

"You guys are spoiling her way too- ah, what am I saying... that's a lost cause," Otome said, with a pout.

"Well, let's go report to gramps," Marie said.

"What should we do, miss Marie?" Frost asked, with an angsty look.

"Well, your squad should go get a hot meal. As for you, try to stay out of trouble, I guess," Marie responded with a dismissive tone, and Frost looked devastated. "We'll call you guys if we need you again."

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't be a jerk to their friend," Sandy said with a smirk.

"Kill me now," Frost said, and curled up into a ball.

…

"WHAT YAH MEAN THEY'VE ALL BEEN SPLATTED!" DJ Octavio was fuming, after listening to the report from his second in command, Colonel Kumi.

"Sir, we've completely lost contact with both our own units and the Chairman's forces that were with them. Their last transmission was a bunch of screaming about how they had been ambushed," Kumi responded.

"Bah, idiots!" The massive octopus boomed. "Perhaps I was mistaken to throw in with you lot." Octavio turned, and glared at the figure that was standing next to him.

"Oh? Perhaps you could enlighten me to who it was that arranged for your release?" Octavio had no response to this, and just glared at the Inkling chairman. "Anyway, have our guest's lips been loosened a little?" The chairman glanced at the door to the interrogation room.

"Only thing we got out of him was that he was hired to keep watch over Octavio," Jade said.

"THAT'S LORD OCTAVIO TO YOU!" Kumi yelled. Jade just ignored her.

"And that some group called Squidbeak hired him," Jade finished.

"Squidbeak? That name sounds familiar," The chairman said, while trying to recall where he had heard that.

"Oh, great. Those hipsters again." Octavio's eyes narrowed. "You can't stand to not get in the way, can you Cuttlefish?"

"This wouldn't be the same group that was protecting that Octoling, would it? This could be troublesome." The chairman turned to Jade. "The fact that our attack force was wiped out, and that this squidbeak is interfering bothers me. Our next attack is going to be on Bluefin Depot, correct?"

"That's what you had scheduled, sir," Jade responded.

"Then let's see how they do with some air cover. Have a squadron of Octobombers and an Octostriker accompany them."

"HEY! Those are my forces to command!" Octavio protested.

"And you might have more say in the matter if you hadn't gotten captured, or if half of your own army hadn't deserted you."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO LORD-" Kumi took a step towards the chairman, but before she knew it, Jade had whipped out his tentatek, and was pointing it at her head.

"Those ink squirts were just the weaklings," Octavio said. "We're better off without them."

"Enough of this!" The chairman said, and Jade lowered his weapon. "Oh, and have Pearl lead the attack this time."

"As you wish, sir. But what should we do with the prisoner?"

"Just throw him back in the cell and let him rot! Not like we need to feed him anymore," The DJ boomed, and the rest seemed to agree. Unknown to them, Jack was listening in, and typing out another message.

…

"You're all very lucky that went as well as it did." Cuttlefish was looking the group over, as he thought about the days events. "You took a pretty big risk by not notifying the army, or me."

"Gramps, you know we couldn't be sure that it was a genuine tip off," Marie responded. "For all we knew, it could have been another trap like at the amusement park. Besides, they might have blamed the Octarians even though we know their government isn't behind this."

"Aye, I can't argue that. Still, you should have come to me first, and you definitely should have synced colors."

"Otome and the other Octolings still would have been vulnerable to friendly fire," Shara chimed in, while ignoring Levin's 'I told you so' look.

"I've been thinking about that, Bucko. Tell me, lass. Are Octolings truly incapable of changing their ink colors? Or do you just lack the know-how?" Cuttlefish asked.

"I.. really don't know," Otome said, while thinking. "I don't think the Octarian scientists ever figured out how that works."

"Aye, and we can't mimic your Octarian purple, either. If we're to ever be real allies, than maybe it's time to share a few secrets." Cuttlefish turned towards his shack, and a female figure emerged from the shadows.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! NOT HER!" Levin yelled, and then dropped to his knees.

"I'm only here for the reds today, but I can one-v-one you again, if you prefer," Iris said with a sneer.

"S-stay back, evil demo-mpf!" Kirk quickly put his hand over Levin's mouth.

"Shut up, Levin! You're going to get us in trouble again!"

"Enough!" Cuttlefish slammed his bamboozler cane down, which startled even Iris. "I asked her here to see if we can do something about our color problems." Cuttlefish turned to Iris. "Think you can whip them into shape?"

"I don't get paid enough for this," Iris mumbled. "I'll give it a shot, though." She turned back to the Octolings. "How much do you know about color shifting?"

"Not a single thing," Otome responded. "If we knew how it worked, we would have tried it already."

"Then I'll have to start at the beginning," Iris said with another sigh. "The first things young Inklings have to learn is to get familiar with the essence of every color."

"What does that mean?" Yako asked, and wore a confused expression.

"Quiet, runt! I mean, you have to feel the colors. Smell them. Taste them. Take in every bit of each color, and commit it to memory."

"This is really bringing back memories," Shara said, as she watched the lecture. "But not even dad was this... into it."

"And since you want to run your mouth, you're being volunteered for the hands on lesson!" Iris barked. Annoyed, Shara walked over to where Otome was. "Now, place your hands on her tentacles, and close your eyes." Otome did as she was told, and closed her eyes after placing her hand on Shara's head.

"H-hey b-be careful!" Shara yelped.

"Can you feel it, red? Can you sense the essence of her colors?" Iris said, ignoring Shara's complaints.

"What are you-... wait, I think... I sense.. something." Otome went into a pensive state.

"Good, that's the feeling you want. The next thing you need to do, is command your body to take those colors and make it your own!"

"H-how?" Otome's expression went sour.

"Bend the ink in your body to your will! It is your ink, not the other way around! Tell- no, order it to take the form you want! It's no different than changing to your basic form!"

Otome concentrated again, and tried ordering the ink in her body to change its color pallet. It seemed to fail at first, but after a few minutes, she started feeling strange. Startled, she dropped her concentration, and opened her eyes. Immediately, she fell over, and began violently coughing up dark orange ink. Shara fell backwards, and Drake and Callie ran to Otome's side.

"Otome! Are you alright?" Drake asked, while supporting her.

"FOOL! Even a child knows to not stop mid change!" Iris yelled. "If that happened any later, you could have ended up in the hospital!"

"W-well, w-what did y- you expect? I-I've never t-tried that before! A-and thanks for the w-warning!" Otome said between coughs

"I shouldn't have too!" Iris snapped. "Now, try again and don't break concentration this time!"

"Just watch where you spray next time," Shara said, as she stood back up. Otome placed her hands on Shara's head again, and closed her eyes. After a few moments, the strange feeling returned, and Otome did her best to ignore it.

"W-Wow! Look, she's doing it!" She could here Kirk yell. After another few seconds, the feeling subsided.

"There. That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Iris said, and Otome opened her eyes.

"Otome! I-I don't believe what I'm seeing," Shara was staring at her with a dumbfounded expression.

"You look... amazing, but.. are you okay" Drake asked, while holding Otome's arm.

"Whawha? Do you know who I am? What's your name? How many fingers am I holding up?" Callie asked in a panicked voice.

"Thanks, you two," Otome responded. Her tentacles had changed into a bright orange, similar to Shara's. "I feel a little funny, but I'm okay, I think."

"Well don't just stand there!" Iris said. "Turn on your ink tank, and see if the colors are right!" Otome switched on the tank, and fired a few shots from her Octoshot. The pellets came out orange.

"This is amazing," Marie said. "This will open up a lot of opportunities for us, now that friendly fire isn't an issue."

"So, how do I change back?" Otome asked.

"The colors will naturally revert in about an hour or so, but if you have to, you can change back with the same method you just used. Just concentrate on your native purple. Or would that be red?"

"I'll give it a try." Otome concentrated on her native colors, and felt her ink change back into its proper form.

"Now that's the Otome we know and love!" Callie said, with a big smile. She was clearly impressed by all this.

"Just one more thing." Iris walked up to Otome.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked.

"Just making this a fair trade. You know we can't change to Octarian purple." With out asking, Iris reached out, and touched Otome's tentacles. "Hold Still!" Iris said, as Otome jumped. She watched Iris's tentacles gradually changed color.

"Red, huh? Not what I was expecting, but it makes sense," Iris said, as she looked at her new tentacle color. She turned on her ink tank, and raised her squiffer. Then she quickly turned, and fired a shot at Tanner.

"Wha? WHAT THE HELL?" Tanner yelled, as he was hit with purple ink. "How did you know that would work with out testing it first? AND WHY ME?"

"Because if it failed, nothing of importance would have been lost," Iris responded coldly. "Now, let's see you three do it!" After watching Otome, Briki and Tanner were able to change on the first try, though it took Yako several attempts. The other agents were also quick to take on Octarian colors.

"So the only reason Octarians couldn't change, and why we couldn't take on their purple, is because no one tried?" Said the bewildered Kirk.

"I feel kind of stupid, man," Levin said, as he fired a few purple ink balls from his blaster.

"I think that about wraps this up," Cuttlefish said, and the group turned to him. "I'm sure this will be a great cultural exchange between our species, but until the matter with Octavio is settled, I would like everyone to keep this between us."

"That's probably a good idea. The zapfish and prisoner exchange was postponed until Octavio is recaptured, after all," Marie said. Everyone, including Iris, agreed to keep this development a secret.

"I think it's time for me to go. Honestly, the Triggerfish campers will be a piece of cake, compared to you lot." Ignoring their responses, Iris quickly packed her gear, and started to head back to Inkopolis. "Oh, and one more thing," she said. "Once you get the hang of it, you can change colors with out making physical contact, but I wouldn't advise it for a while." With that, she left the group behind.

"Well, Buckos, you did good today," Cuttlefish said, getting the group's attention. "Why don't you take a break, and join me for some crabby-"

"Cap'n!" Kirk suddenly said. "I got another message! This time it's.. Bluefin Depot? That's on the other side of the city, and.. HALF AN HOUR?!"

"Sorry, gramps, but we're going to have to pass on the snacks. Let's go, guys!" Following Marie's lead, the group quickly ran for the connection pipe."

"Be careful, kids! And make sure you use your new abilities wisely!" Cuttlefish yelled after them.

…

"Ma'am! There's another wave coming in!" A group of Inkling army units were pinned down at Bluefin Depot, after responding to an anonymous tip. They had repelled most of the enemy attacks so far, but a new wave of Octobombers forced them to retreat, which allowed another group of rogue Inklings to push in with their Octoling allies.

"Stay in Cover! Don't let them climb the walls!" Starheart responded. Having lost their squad leader, Starheart was next in line for command of the squad, and was now leading the defenders. "And where's Mako?"

"I'm keeping them off the left wall! Ha! Gotcha, you bugger!" Mako knocked off another Inkling that had tried to climb to the left platform. "I can't hold them much longer. If you got a plan, Star, now's the time!"

"What should I do?" Starheart muttered. Her squad was at it's breaking point, but they couldn't let these insurgents take such an important area.

"Star, Look out!" Mako yelled. She looked up, and saw that two Octobombers had flanked around, and were closing in on her. Just as they were about to attack, an orange charger stream came from behind, and hit one the bombers, killing it instantly. Shocked, she saw an orange Octoling jump down from the ledge above. Several loud cracks accompanied this, and the second bomber was taken down by Drake, who also jumped to her platform.

"Starheart! Have your men cover us! We'll push them back!" Another voice yelled. Star turned, and saw the familiar, yet orange figure of Otome, who was accompanied by the squidbeak agents.

"R-right! Everyone! The orange Inklings and Octolings are on our side! Cover them!" Able to catch their breath by the sudden reinforcements, the remaining army units joined with squidbeak, and began pushing back the invaders.

"They have reinforcements! We need to fall back!" An Octoling yelled.

"Hold your ground, cowards!" A sudden voice yelled back. "I will not allow anyone to retreat!" A female inkling emerged from the other side of the depot.

"That's.. PEARL! I can't believe this! And to think we allowed her on our team!" Mako hissed, and readied his blaster.

"No, wait!" Mako moved to attack pearl, but she merely snapped her fingers. An Octobomber tossed her an inkzooka. Barely able to avoid the charge, Mako dove back into cover.

"Surely you can do better than that, league player," Pearl said in a mocking voice.

"Leave her to me," Otome said. "Just keep the rest of them off of me!" Otome jumped to the central area, and quickly rolled to the right to avoid another inkzooka shot.

"You again," Pearl said, and tossed the inkzooka to the side. "I was hoping I would get to pay you back for that stupid match."

"And you should know that I'm better than you. We're all better than your little pirate gang," Otome responded.

"Don't think that I'm the same as before." Pearl snapped her fingers again, and an Octostriker emerged from the shadows. Drake saw this, and quickly raised his rifle.

"What the- ah, hell! Why now!?" He snarled, as several clicks signaled that the rifle had jammed. He quickly ejected the jammed cartridge and shot down the Octostriker, but it had already fired the missile. "OTOME, LOOK OUT!" He jumped down to her level, and pushed her out of the missiles path.

"DRAKE! DON'T!" Otome yelled, but was too late. The missile collided behind him, and a cyclone of purple consumed Drake. When the ink cleared, Drake was lying motionless in the middle of an ink pool. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, YOU F-" Otome stopped, when she saw a line of green ink, that lead to the raised platform on the opposite side. "I'm going to kill her.." Otome quickly followed the trail in her own ink to the raised platform. When she reverted to bipedal, she saw the trail lead to the back of a crate stack, and seemed to stop. She quickly moved to the corner, and raised her Octoshot. Turning the corner, she fired a burst at where she expected Pearl to be hiding. Instead of Pearl, a suction bomb was waiting for her. "Shit!" Otome quickly jumped back, but wasn't able to completely avoid the splatter.

"Did you really fall for such an obvious trick? I expected more from you," Pearl said from the other side of the stack. Injured, but not incapacitated, Otome leaned against the crates. She needed a plan fast, and luckily, one formed in her head after looking at the green ink trail. Otome shut her eyes, and concentrated on ordering her body to change to bright green. Once her tentacles had changed color, she quickly dropped a tampering capsule into her ink tank, just as Pearl came into view.

"You're going to pay for what you did," Otome said, coldly.

"Oh really? All you did was make this a stalemate with that color swap. I don't know how you figured that out, but it won't save you. You're still injured."

"Guess again!" Otome fired a stream of dark green ink at Pearl. After taking numerous hits, Pearl fell backwards.

"What... the... hell is.. this?" She mumbled. Otome pointed her weapon at Pearl's head.

"I should take you alive, but I wonder."

"Ha! I know your type. You.. don't have the guts... to fulfill your desires! Death to those who oppose the chairman!" Pearl quickly reached to her side, and pulled out a throwing knife. Otome ducked, as the knife flew over her head, narrowly missing her. As Pearl readied another knife, Otome fired another burst at her. Pearl's head dropped down, and she breathed her last.

"Crazy sea cow.." Otome muttered. She looked around, and saw that her allies had cleared out the rest of the opposition. They had gathered around Drake's body. Otome quickly ran over.

"Drake! W-wake up!" Callie was shaking him while crying.

"Callie, stop. I don't think... I don't think he's even breathing." Marie was trying to get Callie to stop shaking him.

"I'll kill every one of those lousy bastards myself!" Levin said, while cocking his blaster in anger.

"Calm down, Levin!" Shara snapped. "I understand how you feel, though. First they seduce Neptune, then they take our first friend from the elder race from us, and-"

"Can... you not... write me.. off... so quickly.." A voice said between violent coughs.

"D-DRAKE! YOU'RE OKAY!" Callie screeched, and hugged him tightly. This caused him to cough even harder, and ink flew out of his mouth.

"Whoa! Dude's alive!" Said the Shocked Levin.

"Callie! You're not helping!" Marie said, and tried to pull her off. Otome quickly started wiping the ink off Drake's mouth and face.

"That... was worse... than getting.. shot... I thought... was... dead for.. a minute. Couldn't even.. breath..."

"Not even a human can take an ink strike to the face, you idiot! If you had been any closer to the center, you would have died! Why did you do that?!" Otome yelled.

"Just.. wanted to.. return.. the favor.." Drake responded.

"I'm the one who owes you! You scared me to death, you.. you.."

"Who cares about that!" Callie said, as tears streamed down her face. "You're both alive. That's all that matters!"

"Though, it looks like someone forgot what I said about people who make Callie cry," Marie said with both relief and irritation.

"MARIE!"

"Hey! We got a live one over here!" Mako yelled from the other side of the center area.

"It's about time we got a prisoner," Starheart said. "Get him ready for transport!"

"Roger!" Mako yelled, and carried the Inkling off.

"H-hey, do you mind if you give us... a few minutes?" Callie asked the group.

"Well, we need to head out, anyway," Starheart responded. "But before I do, thank you all for coming to our aid. We would have lost that fight if not for you." Star turned towards the Octolings. "Especially you, Otome and Briki."

"Your welcome, Star," Briki responded. "W-we'll um.. just be over.. here." One by one, the group left the area. Otome was the last to leave, but turned back to Drake and Callie, with a pained expression. The last words of Pearl were circling in her head.

"So,- what did you want to talk about?" Drake asked, as he found the strength to sit up.

"I- I just... I mean," Callie stuttered.

"Easy, Callie. Take a deep breath and talk to me," Drake said. Callie took a deep breath, and calmed down a bit.

"Drake, seeing you almost die... It scared me so badly... I thought... I thought I had lost someone important to me again. That was worse than what happened last week." Callie took another breath. "Ever since you first came here.. I've had so much fun with you and Otome. You're one of the few people who can appreciate me for who I am, rather than being a squid sister."

"Yeah, Marie said something like that. You're an important person to me too, Callie. You, Marie, and Otome are better friends than most humans I've known."

"E-even more than the girl in that picture?"

"That... was complicated. And it doesn't matter anymore, because I won't ever see her again," Drake said somewhat sadly.

"S-sorry, Drake. But it's complicated for me too. You see, even though it hasn't been that long, this has been the happiest time of my life.. and.." Callie stopped, and locked eyes with Drake. "Drake... I... I mean... I..."

"Hey, you two! Are you almost done?" Marie was standing at the edge of the upper platform.

"We'll be up in a minute!" Drake yelled back.

"Well, hurry it up. Kirk got another message, and we need to move!" Marie turned, and walked in the opposite direction.

"Sorry, what were you about to say?" Drake asked.

"I..." Callie looked down. "No, I shouldn't burden you with this when we're about to get into another fight. But.." Callie looked back up "But will you hear me out when we get some downtime?"

"Of course, Callie. Anything you want," Drake responded. Finally recovered from the ink paralysis, he stood up with Callie's help.

"Promise me," Callie said.

"I promise, Callie." Callie nodded with a red face, and she quickly squid jumped to the upper platform. Drake moved over to the far left wall, and started to climb his way up. As he reached the top platform, a hand was extended to him. He took it, and was helped up to the platform by Otome.

"Sorry I worried you again, Otome," Drake said, as he leaned against the concrete wall.

"It's okay, Drake. I should be thanking you for saving me again." Otome took a deep breath. "So... did Callie..."

"Marie interrupted us before she could finish, and Callie decided to wait until we get a break from the fighting to discuss it. I didn't get to hear what she wanted in the end," Drake responded.

"I... uh.. have a pretty good idea what she wanted to say.." Otome looked down, and silently cursed herself. "Listen, Drake. I also have something I need to tell you. But since Callie went first, and I consider her a friend, I'll wait until she finishes telling you. But I want you to promise me, that regardless of how you respond, you will hear me out too."

"I almost get killed, and that gets me two promises in a row. Of course, Otome. You have my word."

"Thank you, Drake. That's more than I have the right to ask for, right now." Otome gave a soft smile, and embraced the human.

"SSSSSIIIIISSSSS! ARE YOU COME- OOOOHHHH! I KNEW IT!"

"Shut up, Yako!" Otome yelled, in a loud but embarrassed tone. As they turned to leave, Drake looked over, and was just in time to see a pink figure squid jump away.

**A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Jade and Pearl – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Iris - Luna - Splatoon animo**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Reader OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jade and Pearl – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Iris - Luna - Splatoon animo


	26. 3.4 – The Storm

When Matthew was abducted over a week ago, he had assumed that they wanted his work on the Octotrooper weapons platform, but instead they moved him back up to the surface, and he had spent most of his time working on improving the new model of Octavio's Octobot. Currently, he was replacing the large fists with weapons that, until now, hadn't been used in an actual battle since even before the great turf war.

"How long are you planning on making lord Octavio wait?" A voice behind him yelled.

"As long is it takes to get it right, Kumi. These weren't meant to be mounted on a giant robot, you know. Especially not in pairs," Matthew responded. He had intentionally been working as slow as possible, but the thought of what had been taken from him kept him from outright refusing. This was also why he did not dare sabotage the robot itself.

"You've been making that excuse for days now, and we're running out of time. Need I remind you of what will happen if you fail?" The older Octoling elite glared at the male Octoling from behind her goggles.

"Yes, Kumi. I know you have something... that I want back," Matthew responded with a growl.

"Good, because you still need to improve the shields. If these modifications aren't finished in two days, you can kiss your little... thing.. goodbye. I can't fathom why one of the best Octarian scientists is keeping... one of those..."

"That's my business, Kumi. I'm not interested in debating your failed views."

"Your BUSINESS, is to finish those modifications. I hope I've made myself clear. I would hate to have to do something that would make the late Sargent Carmine blush." After saying her piece, Kumi left the hanger, and Matthew was left alone to tend to his work, save for the two Octolings that were guarding him.

"You don't have to keep reminding me, old hag." Matthew finished mounting the weapons, and checked that they were attached properly. All that was left to do, was improve the shield output. Thankfully, nobody else but him would know that while this would only take a few hours, he would be able to milk it for a few days.

"Hey! Get down from there! It's time to return to your cell," One of the guards yelled.

Matthew put down his tools, and hopped off the Octobot. "I don't care if its the squids or the Guardian Corps. Someone better get here quick, or Octavio may become unstoppable. Ironic that I told them to watch over Tanner, but I'm the one that got captured," he said to himself, as he was taken from the hanger.

…

"TANNER! Get back here!" Otome yelled, as her subordinate charged at what he thought was an opening in the enemy lines. They were currently repelling an attack on Hammerhead bridge. Drake was on the lower left side with the squid sisters, and the other Squidbeak members were pushing up the center bridge. Otome's team was currently trying to move in on the lower right side.

"I got this, sarge!" Tanner responded over the communicator. He was attempting to climb up the side of the support column and get behind a squad of Octolings.

"Dammit! Briki! Cover him!" Otome yelled.

"Don't worry, ma'am! I'll protect that idiot!" She responded, and lined up a charger shot. Just as tanner came out of his ink, she fired and took down one of the Octolings. The remaining three, were made quick work of by Tanner's brush and a bomb thrown by Yako.

"See? Told you I- Oh SHIT!" Tanner quickly turned, and ran towards the side of the platform, but was shot several times in the back. He rolled forwards, and fell off the side. A group of Inklings had squid jumped in from another area.

"Tanner! Damn, they have reinforcements! Look out you guys!" Otome yelled to warn the agents on the center platform.

"We see them!" Shara yelled back. "Wait... that's-" Before Shara could finish, a burst bomb was thrown, and hit her directly in the chest. Recoiling, she took several steps back, then started to fall off the side of the bridge. Levin lunged forwards, and caught her before she could fall. With the help of Kirk, they quickly pulled her back up.

"Why did you just stand there?" Levin asked, as he placed a Squee-G on Shara's chest.

"Because she doesn't have what it takes to beat me!" A voice laughed from the other side of the bridge.

"GULL!" Levin snarled.

"Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from! Take it to em, boys!" Gull's team immediately started pushing back at the agents. The .96 gal jumped down, and caught Callie by surprise.

"W-what!? AGH!" After taking several shots to the leg, Callie fell backwards, and dropped her roller.

"CALLIE! YOU BASTARD!" Marie yelled, and raised her charger. As if to taunt her, he placed a splash wall in front of Callie, and blocked the shot Marie had lined up. What he hadn't counted on, was the wall having no effect against hot lead. A burst of gun fire was heard, and several bullets passed through the splash wall, and hit the Inkling in the chest.

"He's down- ack! SNIPER!" Drake yelled, and rolled to the left to avoid a charger shot. A counter shot from the enraged Marie, made short work of the charger wielding Inkling. The two moved up, and quickly started tending to Callie.

On the other side, the Octolings were having trouble reaching Tanner, due to a rapid blaster blocking their path. "Briki! Take this Squee-G, and help Tanner! We'll distract him!" Otome quickly tossed Briki the small robot.

"Leave him to me, ma'am!" Briki said. She dodged an ink ball from the blaster, and changed to her octo form to follow a trail she had made. Before the blaster could get off another shot, Otome fired several pellets at him to get his attention, then dove in her own trail. As the blaster traced Otome's movements, he fired an ink ball as she came out, and hit her on the chest plate.

"Hey jerkwad! Eat this nutritious bomb!" Yako yelled, and hurled one at the inkling. He didn't even try to dodge, as the bomb flew over his head. Laughing a bit, he turned towards Yako. This caused him to miss the bomb bouncing off the wall, and landing at his feat. The bomb quickly exploded, and the blaster Inkling was no more. Otome and Yako quickly ran over to help with Tanner.

Gull, who had not expected this development, was being pushed back by Kirk's splatling. However, since Kirk was also covering Levin and Shara, he couldn't get close enough to actually hit him. Suddenly, Gull's face changed into a sneer, and it became apparent why when two more Inklings jumped in. "Great timing, you two! Deal with that kid!"

"B-but, Jade wants you to return-"

"Don't argue with me, idiots! Just do it!" As the two hesitated, a splat bomb was thrown between them, and they were knocked off the platform. "What the hell?" Gull looked up and saw an Octoling elite jump behind him, and land where the two Inklings were standing. "Who the hell are you?"

"You're worst nightmare," the Octoling replied, and raised her Octoshot.

"Surrender, Gull!" Gull turned back around, and saw that Kirk and Levin had caught up to him.

"I don't think so. You win this time, but I'll be back!" Gull threw his Aerospray at Levin, which struck him in the face, and tossed a burst bomb at the Octoling. She dodged, but he used the brief moment to squid jump away, and barely avoided several pellets from the mini splatling.

"You okay, Shara?" Levin asked.

"You should be more concerned about yourself," Shara replied. "That looked like it hurt." She then turned to the Octoling elite that had helped them. "Uh, thanks for that.."

"Kelly!" Otome yelled, as she ran up to the group. "Why are you here?"

"What? Am I not allowed to check up on my cute subordinate from time to time?"

"T-that's not what I- AND WHO'S CUTE?!"

"Relax, I'm just playing," Kelly said with a laugh. "I think I've gotten all I can from lone sharking. All I was even able to find out is that while they use Ceph as a means to get into Inkopolis. Their actual base is somewhere else. I still don't have the slightest idea who these guys are, apart from the fact that they have a lot of Octarian traitors with them." Kelly bared her teeth in frustration.

"S-so what are you going to do now?" Kirk asked, while observing the pair.

"I'll be rejoining the squad," Kelly responded.

"Then what are your orders, Lieutenant?" Otome asked.

"Don't start that," Kelly said. "You're still officially in command of this assignment, and this is pretty much your squad now. I'll probably be reassigned when we get back, anyway."

"If Otome is still in charge, then how about you make us dinner?" Levin cut in.

"Don't push it, squid boy," Kelly responded, and the group laughed at them. Kelly then turned, and jumped off the platform to where Tanner was getting treated. "That was a real dumb thing you did there, wonder boy. You're lucky the girls were here to take care of you."

"Yes my mistress! I eagerly await your punishment!" Tanner tried to make a joke, as he slowly sat up.

"You shouldn't tease people like that. Some of us like to play rough," Kelly responded, and gave him a look that gave him chills.

"The de-splatting is finished, but he got pretty beat up. I think he'll be out for the rest of the night," Briki said. Kelly walked over, and hoisted him up on her shoulder.

"Then let's get him back to your apartment. It's getting late, and we really should get some dinner."

"I just hope that's the end of the attacks," Kirk said, and after making sure Callie was okay, the group headed back to the plaza.

"I got a hold of Starheart, and the army should be here any minute to take the injured into custody," Marie said, as they left the bridge behind.

…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN PEARL IS DEAD!" Jade was glaring at Neptune, who had reported the results of the failed attack on Bluefin Depot.

"I saw it with my own two eyes. The entire unit was wiped out by the army," she responded while trying to keep her calm.

"SO THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL BREATHING! WHY DIDN'T YOU BACK HER UP!"

"Hey, don't put this on me! I had my hands full as it was! I was taking on a full squad by myself, and barely managed to make it back at all!"

"ARE YOU TELLING ME, THAT YOU JUST RAN WITH YOUR-"

"That's enough, Jade. I know your upset about Pearl, but we need to stay focused on our goals," A voice from behind them said.

"O-of course, Mr. Chairman."

"Were we at least able to raise suspicion against the Octarians?"

"We can't really tell yet. They have definitely increased security on the boarder areas, but we aren't sure if it will be enough to draw them away from where we plan our main attack."

"That's unfortunate, but every bit helps. Anyway, Jade, you should get ready. We're putting the plan into effect in two days."

"Of course, sir." The two turned to leave, but not before Jade said, "I'll deal with you later," to Neptune.

Neptune glanced over to where Jack's cell was, then focused her attention to the other side of the prison area. "You can come out of hiding now. Honestly, letting the girl take all the heat? Big man, aren't you?"

"Hey, they already have enough to deal with as it is!" Gull said, as he came out of hiding. "No reason for both of us to get yelled at, now is there?"

"If you say so, tough guy," Neptune said with a sigh. "Still, I have the excuse of the army being at the right place at the right time. Just how did YOU get crushed AND lose your team?"

"Watch your mouth, kid. I brought you here, and I can take you out anytime!" Gull snapped back.

"What ever you say." Neptune sighed again, and Gull began pacing.

"It's obvious that someone is leaking information.." Gull turned his attention back to Neptune.

"Hey, don't look at me. My phone has been missing for a few days." Neptune emptied her pockets to show him that she didn't have a phone. "And you can ask the guys in the control room if I've been in there or not."

"Whatever." Gull resumed his pacing. "We need something to give us leverage over those damn Squidbeak upstarts." Gull paused for a moment. "I wonder if that Octarian scientist can make us some new weapons."

"That's not going to happen in just a day. Besides, I here he's busy working on some secret weapon the Octarians brought with them. Although, I may know of a place to get something that even they don't have access too."

"What are you talking about?" What Neptune said in response, caused Gull's eyes to widen. "WHAT? You mean there are more of them? How? Where?"

"If your feeling up for a night raid, I can show you where it is."

"That's just crazy enough to work! If we can get our hands on them, we can easily turn the tide on those damn agents and even that human! Now we just have to figure out who is leaking information."

"About that. I think I know who has my phone." Neptune turned, and started walking towards Jack's cell.

"Ah, shit!" Jack said, as he quickly finished typing out the message he had been writing while listening to their conversation. Just as he hit the send button, the door opened and Neptune and Gull were looking at him.

"I'll have my phone back, please," Neptune said, with a strangely amused expression. With out giving him a chance, Gull punched Jack in the stomach, then hit him over the head. Neptune quickly retrieved her phone, and the two left the cell, while locking the door behind them.

"Damn.. it," Jack said, after coughing a few times. "What the hell am I supposed to do now?"

…

It was now dark, and the agents of Squidbeak were standing near the studio entrance, along with Otome and Drake. The other Octolings had left to take the injured Tanner back to their apartment. "So what do you guys want to do for dinner?" Marie asked. "The cafe is still out of the question."

"I say we get pizza!" Kirk said strongly, which surprised everyone, considering how timid he usually was.

"I've been wanting to try your version of pizza for a while," Drake said.

"Are we all good with that?" Marie asked.

"Actually, I'm feeling like Kelp burger," Shara said, which was another surprise. Levin gave her a stunned look. "W-what's with the looks? You guys can get pizza, if you want."

"YOU don't want Ramen?" Levin said. "This is a first. Well, I guess we'll see you later."

"What are you talking about? You want kelp burger too," Shara responded.

"Uh, I actually want-" Levin stopped when he saw the 'come with me or die' look that Shara was giving him. "A kelp burger, of course. Welp, catch you guys later. Call us if something else comes up." Levin followed Shara to the tram station that would take them to Arowana Mall.

"What was that about?" Levin asked, as they boarded the tram. Shara didn't respond, and just stared at the floor. The short ride to Arowana was quiet and uneventful, as Levin just waited for Shara to talk. After about five minutes, the tram arrived, and the two set off for Kelp burger.

"I'll go find us a seat," Shara finally said after they ordered their dinner. Levin took the food trays, and followed her to the back of the diner. "I really screwed up today," Shara said, as they started eating their food.

"Everybody makes mistakes. We didn't know Gull was going to jump in like that," Levin responded.

"Maybe so. But Gull... terrifies me."

"Is that why you froze up?"

Shara took another bite of her burger, and nodded her head. "Even after we got on Kirk for that... Pretty sad, isn't it?" Shara stopped, and took a quick drink from her cola. "Every time I see him... I just remember the things he used to do and get away with... The things he tried to push me into doing.. even though our... relationship, if you can even call it that, didn't really go anywhere. Just the thought of it..."

"Which is why I understand that you are afraid of him. But I've got an ink ball with his name on it saved for our next encounter. You just leave him to me," Levin said, as he finished his meal. This caused Shara to laugh a little.

"I guess even you can be reliable sometimes, 'big brother'."

"Hey, you aren't Neptune. And what's with the 'even you' part?" Levin stopped with he saw the grin on Shara's face. "Well this is rare. Looks to me like I made you smile again."

"Shut up, you." Shara and Levin returned the trays, and left the diner. She then turned to him. "Walk with me?" The two slowly strolled around the outdoor mall, occasionally stopping to do a bit of window shopping.

"That would look cute on you," Levin said, as he pointed to a crystal tentacle clip that was shaped like a mini Judd.

"You're just saying that," Shara responded. She looked intently at the ornament. "It is adorable, though. But I don't think it suits something as un-cute as me."

"There you go again. Talking down about yourself," Levin said. Shara didn't respond, and the two continued in silence. After a few more minutes, a low rumbling could be heard, and water droplets started falling from the sky. "Ah, hell. Rain!" They quickly started running while looking for a place to take shelter, since most of the shops were closed.

"Over there!" Shara yelled, and they quickly ran under a bus stop. "This will have to do for now. Sorry for getting us caught in the rain."

"It happens," Levin said with a shrug. The two sat in silence again, and Shara was staring at the ground with a pensive look on her face. "Why do you say those things about yourself?" Levin asked after a few minutes passed.

"Well, it's true. I'm as far from cute as you can get. My personality sucks, these glasses make me look like a nerd, and I'm stupid enough to date a guy like.. him. Honestly, why do you even care?"

"We've been over this!" Levin said in a raised voice. "Besides, am I not allowed to care? If that's the case, why did you bring me with you? If you're so awful, why have you saved my ass several times now?"

Shara looked down again. "I just... didn't want you to get hurt." Red in the face, Shara again paused to sort the conflicted feelings in her head. "You've grown a lot since we first met. Back then, I couldn't stand you but... I guess..."

"Grown? Me? You must be thinking of someone else," Levin cut in. "Though thinking back, you mentioned something about an offer after that mess in Octovalley. I never did get to hear that."

"That? How do even remember... oh never mind. I was going to ask if you wanted to form a new turf squad with me. Obviously, that won't be happening anytime soon."

"Yeah, why do turf wars when you can face death on a daily basis," Levin groaned. "Best part is, we don't even get recognition for it." The two stopped talking, and silence took over for the next few minutes.

"H-hey Levin," Shara said, breaking the awkward silence. "Were you serious?"

"About what?" He responded, and gave her a confused look.

"About... you know.. protecting me from Gull... me being cute..."

"Why wouldn't I be? I may be a lot of things, but I would think that you would know that liar isn't one of them."

Shara hardened her resolve, and looked Levin in the eyes. "You wanted an Offer? Well, here's mine." With out warning, Shara grabbed Levin's shirt, and pulled him towards her. His eyes went wide as his lips met hers, but his expression quickly loosened, and he accepted the sensation. Several second passed, and the two separated. "T-that's my o-offer. T-take it or l-leave it," Shara looked away, her face completely red.

"Shara.." This time, Levin reached over, and turned her face towards his, and leaned in. The two locked lips once again, and immersed themselves into the kiss. When they finally separated, Levin looked Shara directly in the eye, and said, "That is my answer."

"I-I see. T-then as my boyfriend, will you erase the stains Gull left on my life? On my mind?"

"That jerk doesn't know what he threw away. Trust me. The next time we see him, I'll make sure he never hurts you again. One way, or another." The two leaned in, and shared another kiss. "And you're plenty cute. Hell, you lack of physical growth just adds to-" Shara quickly gave Levin a tentacle slap across the face.

"You jerk! You had to go and ruin the moment, didn't you!"

"Sorry, sorry! But what can I say. Guys like teasing girls they like. Besides, I've been over due for one of those, don't you think?" Levin said, as he cracked a smile while rubbing his face.

"Y-your such a dork sometimes," Shara said, and couldn't help to smile as tears streamed down her face. "But thanks, Levin. I.. I really do like-" At that moment, they were interrupted by both of their phones ringing at the same time.

…

"It may be a little different than what I remember, but this is really good!" Drake was woofing down the pizza that the group had ordered. The group of five were sitting in the studio lounge, and enjoying the pizzas that had been delivered to them. "I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had pizza, or how much I've been craving it!"

"I guess we know what Drake's favorite food is," Marie said with a smirk, as she watched him pig out. "And the Octoling's, for that matter."

"Yeah, how is it Otome?" Callie asked. Otome just responded with a thumbs up, while barely looking away from her food. "You two don't have to eat so fast. There's plenty more."

"Ah, let them have at it," Marie said, who was enjoying the show more than the food. "Still, it's a good thing we ordered in, rather than going out. The rain is really pouring, and we would be in real trouble if we had gotten caught out there with out umbrellas."

"Huh? It's just rain. I mean, having wet clothes is annoying, but not really a big deal," Drake said with a confused look.

"Uh, Drake. You remember back at the hot- erm, Calamari County, and how I told you about how we can't tolerate polluted water?" Kirk asked.

"I remember something about that," Drake responded.

"Well, even most of the rain is... polluted," Kirk said.

"Ah, acid rain. Got it. I need to remember to warn the others about that."

"That would probably be a good idea. I can't imagine humans being immune to that junk, either," Marie said, as she finished eating another slice.

"But eating a hot meal on a rainy day can be fun too. Especially with your friends!" Callie said happily. The group sat around chatting, while devouring the pizza. However, Kirk's phone suddenly vibrated, and he received another message.

"Thaf beffur nob he wuth I tank if ish," Otome tried to say with her mouth full.

"Otome! Swallow your food first. Even Callie knows that," Marie said.

"Hey!"

Kirk ignored the banter, and looked at his phone. The color instantly drained from his face. "D-Drake! They're going after the humans!"

"What! How did they even find out about.." His speech cut off, and they all looked at each other.

"NEPTUNE!"

"Well, what are we waiting for! We have to help them!" Callie said, and jumped up.

"B-but how will we get there? It's pouring outside, and it took us an hour to walk last time," Kirk asked.

"We'll take the studio van. Grab your gear, and follow me!" Marie said, and they ran out of the lounge. Though, Otome made sure to grab a slice for the road on the way out.

"Whoa! What's the hurry?" A voice asked from behind.

"Not now, Fran. Something big came up, and we need to borrow the studio van for a few hours."

"What? B-but I don't think the boss will like it if you just take the van! What am I supposed to tell them if he finds out?"

"Just say that we were chasing a lead or something. Pleeaeaaseee Fran?" Callie asked.

"You know I can't say no to you," Fran said with a sigh. "Just try to be careful. And don't wreck the van, either."

"You're the best, Fran! There's some left over pizza in the lounge if you want it," Callie said, and they ran to the garage.

"Callie! You are not driving!" Marie said, as she approached the drivers side.

"Aw, come on! I'll pass the test next time, so let me drive!"

"Not happening. Drake, you ride up front in case I need directions. Everyone else can pile in the back. Kirk, see if you can get a hold of Levin and Shara." Marie quickly stepped on the gas, and the van pulled on to the main road.

"Marie! Levin and Shara are at the Arowana bus stop," Kirk said from the back.

"Good. That isn't far," Marie responded, and turned onto another road. After about 8 minutes, they pulled up to the bus stop, and Otome opened the side door.

"Hey! Get in here!" She yelled, and Levin and Shara quickly ran for the van. The doors slammed shut, and Marie set course for the city exit. "So what were you doing at a bus stop in the middle of a storm?" Otome asked the pair.

"We, uh, were just talking and, uh got caught in the open. So... HEY! What's this emergency you mentioned?" Levin asked in a very awkward tone that everybody noticed.

"They're going to attack the humans this time," Kirk responded.

"What? Are you serious?" The wide eyed Shara asked.

"I hate to say it, but Neptune must be behind this," Kirk said.

"Damn her! I swear, we're going to have a very long talk when this is over," Shara hissed.

"Yeah, but I just really hope we get there in time," Callie said in a worried tone. "Step on the gas, Marie!"

"Don't worry, guys. I'll get us there," Marie said, as she jammed the accelerator upon leaving Inkopolis. "They won't get away with this. Not on my watch."

...

Manfred, and several of the Eden senior staff, were watching the monitors in the control room. Now that the exterior cameras had been repaired, they could see what was going on outside the base. What they saw worried them. Right next to the emergency hatch, several armored vans had parked, and two figures with umbrellas climbed out.

"Brandon, have you been able to get in touch with Drake?" Manfred asked.

"Nothing, sir. I'm just getting static."

"Well, it's obvious they aren't friendly," one of the senior staff said. "Drake would have told us if we were getting actual visitors. And how did they find us, anyway?"

"I don't know," Manfred responded. "They're way too close to the emergency hatch to be here by coincidence." As they continued to watch, one of the figures on the screen bent down, and started picking the hatch's lock, while the other held the umbrella. Eventually, the hatch was opened, and more figures started climbing out of the vans, and descending the ladder.

"Well, I would say that answers that question," Brandon said. "What should we do? It won't take them very long to get through the airlock."

"Get the rest of your team ready, and have anybody with combat experience report to the armory. I would rather not pick a fight, but if they're going to attack us, we will respond. We can ask questions once they're repelled."

"IF they're repelled," The senior staff member said. "We don't even know if our weapons will work."

"Didn't you read Drake's notes? A shot to the head or other vital areas will kill them, if need be."

"Knock it off," Manfred cut in. "Just get as many people armed as you can, and get the rest to safety in the motor pool!" Brandon quickly left, and Manfred moved to the intercom, just as the unknown force made it through the airlock.

**Authors Notes: This took a little longer that usual, thanks to an odd form of writers block. As you can probably tell, I'm not used to writing romance scenes (there wasn't originally going to be much of that anyway). So, sorry if that was painful to read, as it was certainly hard to write.**

**Reader OC credit for this chapter:**

**Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fan fiction net**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Jade and Pearl – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Notes: This took a little longer that usual, thanks to an odd form of writers block. As you can probably tell, I'm not used to writing romance scenes (there wasn't originally going to be much of that anyway). So, sorry if that was painful to read, as it was certainly hard to write.
> 
> Reader OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Matthew – Pokemontrainer470 – fan fiction net
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Jade and Pearl – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net


	27. 3.5 – Paradise Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Notes: The first few scenes of this chapter is based of an idea pitched from Wattpad user ZachSmithyay, and was partially co-written by him.

"How do you even know about this place, anyway?" Gull asked, as he followed Neptune down the ladder to where the rest of the squad had assembled.

"Because I've been here before. Dra-, the human brought me here once. Back when I was still with Squidbeak," Neptune responded. They exited the hall, and entered the old launch bay control room. Gull stopped, and looked around the wrecked room that was covered in overgrown fungus.

"This place is a dump! Is there even anything here we can use?" Gull said, as he observed the ruined part of Eden.

"Don't be fooled. This is just the exterior. Their real hideout is past that large door," Neptune said. The group came to a halt when they reached the heavy airlock doors. Gull stepped forward, and tried to use the keypad that was next to the large door.

"Okay, so how the hell do we get inside? This thing is obviously broken."

"Oh, you figured that out all by yourself, did you? Step aside," Neptune responded. She ignored the death glares that Gull was giving her, and reached down towards a small hatch on the opposite side of the keypad. After opening the panel, Neptune pulled as small lever, and the airlock door slowly opened. "After you."

"You'd better pray the weapons are in there, like you said they were," Gull growled in response.

"Don't you worry about that." As the squad stepped inside, Neptune hit another button to cycle the airlock, the same way she had seen Drake do.

"This is more like it! I can't wait to finally have the tools we need to crush those upstarts!" Gull said, with a smirk. "Promotion, here I come!" The door started to open, and a bright light entered the airlock, which partially blinded them for a moment. Neptune made out the figures of three armed humans in front of the door. One of which, she recognized.

"You there! You are trespassing on private property! Why have you come here?" Matt yelled with his autotran.

"Bah! Get these fossils out of my way!" Gull sneered, and nodded to two Inklings carrying rollers.

"Drop your weapons and hit the floor!" Matt yelled, and the three guards raised their rifles. Ignoring their warnings, both Inklings raised their dynamos, and flung a wave at the human guards.

"SHIT!" Matt yelled, and rolled to the right. The two guards with him weren't so lucky, and took the wave of ink to their chests. Coughing and sputtering, the two fell backwards. Matt quickly fired a burst at the head of the nearest dynamo Inkling, and he dropped dead. The other dynamo flicked another wave at Matt and hit him in the face, knocking him on his back.

"That's two for me. Hope the rest of you can keep up," the dynamo said while smirking.

...

"W-what... the... hell?" Matt said, as he lay on his back.

"There has been a breach at the entrance. I repeat, there has been a breach at the entrance. All security and volunteers, engage immediately! Proceed with caution," came a voice over the PA system.

"This is... officer... Black... Officers Niwa and... Allen are down. Intruders have... breached the airlock..." Matt said with his radio, while struggling to stay conscious.

The rogue Inklings and Octolings had entered the base, firing upon any humans within sight. Those that fled, tried to make it to safety at the motor pool. In the armory, the remaining guards and a number of other people that were called on to help, put on armor and equipped sub machine guns, rifles, and shotguns. The facility was put on lock down, with much of the civilians hiding, say for those experienced with firearms.

"This is going to get rough," Brandon said, as he finished gearing up. "Most of the non combatants made it to the motor pool, but some are trapped in the other rooms. I want half of you to rescue them, while the other half protects the motor pool, power plant and the armory."

"Why the armory?" One of the technicians asked.

"Because we can't let them get any of our weapons," Reggie responded. "If you read Drake's notes, you would know that their weapons aren't very lethal to us. But if they get our guns, we will be completely screwed."

"This is Drake's fault," a civilian complained. "If he hadn't lead those... people here..."

"Don't act like you weren't into their performance," Brandon snapped. "I know for a fact that every single person here loved those girls. Including the late Mclarrin."

"To be honest, this is more her fault than Drake's," Justin cut in. "If we hadn't hidden ourselves for so long and actually tried to contact them, than maybe we could reach an understanding."

"Who cares? They're just gonna catch us and put us in cages. Like zoo animals," another civilian said.

"Or try to eat us," said a technician.

"Enough!" Brandon yelled. "Just because things look bad, doesn't mean we don't have a job to do! Now move out!" The guards and volunteers snapped to attention, and moved out into the halls.

A few minutes later, 4 armed humans had tried to rescue a group of trapped civilians, but were now cooped up in a room with them. The civilians were all frightened and scared, huddling together. Hearing footsteps approaching from a hallway, officers Lehrer and Keagan, opened the door, with guns ready, and left the room to engage the attackers. The civilians and the other 2 volunteers listened as a firefight began between the rogue Oceanics and humans.

"Holy shit..." One of the volunteer guards in the room muttered. After knocking down Lehrer and Keagan, the Oceanics advanced passed the 2 guards in the hallway, and entered the room.

"Gehi Onu hei sav imi kemin kesu shu!"

"GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!" The volunteer yelled to the civilians. They all quickly dashed out of the room, while the two armed humans covered them. While they succeeded in killing several Octolings and Inklings, they were eventually overpowered.

"Ugh." One of the guards that fell in the hallway, laid on the floor, covered in ink. He took a radio from his pocket, and pressed it to his mouth. "This is officer Keagan. My team is down, and they're heading for the armory and cafeteria. Anyone still up, should fall back... now." He slowly sat up, and reloaded his sub machine gun. The Oceanics managed to push through the counter attack, and began to advance through the Eden facility, as the alarm sounded.

A few minutes later, the cafeteria was a mess. Ink was everywhere, and tables were overturned, serving as barricades. Brandon and Reggie, who were armed with automatic rifles, were continually firing at the Oceanics, taking cover whenever an Oceanic fired back. Takeshi was in the armory, and talking to Brandon with his radio. "Yeah, I got it." He then took out a shotgun and some grenades before running to the cafeteria to assist them, while Justin defended the armory.

Eventually, the two humans made a push to the rogue oceanic side of the cafeteria, and took cover behind another line of tables, as the shotgun wielding Takeshi returned. He blasted the nearest Octoling, then quickly joined Brandon and Takeshi.

"Tell me the armory is still safe," Brandon said, as Takeshi jumped behind the tables.

"Justin and the remaining volunteers are holding, but I don't know for how long," Takeshi responded. "Man, this isn't funny anymore!"

After exchanging another volley, Fong, who had volunteered to help defend, entered the room with a long rifle. She ran forward, firing 6 shots before an Inkling swam behind her. "Look out!" Takeshi jumped from behind the table, and ran to the woman. He quickly pushed her back towards the overturned tables, just as an the Inklings reverted to bipedal, and slammed him with a roller.

"NO!" Fong shouted.

"Tehi oni nav wanu ini natta"

"Damn! There's more of them!" Reggie said, and another exchange of fire started. "Look out! He's got some sort of grenade!" An Inkling had pulled out a splat bomb, but before he could throw it, he jerked forwards several time, then fell dead.

"What the hell?" Brandon said, confused to who had fired the shots. The rogue Oceanics all turned to the entrance, and started firing in the other direction. Drake, along with Callie, Levin and Otome, had hit them behind with a surprise attack. Brandon, Reggie, and Fong, took the opportunity to raise from cover, and hit them while they were distracted. 1 by 1, the intruders fell, until the cafeteria went silent.

"You came just in time," Brandon said, as he approached the group. "That was too damn close."

"Ami shu ahen oneh?"Callie said.

"She asked if you were okay," Drake said, noticing that he was the only one with an autotran.

"I think so, but Takeshi is pretty banged up," Brandon responded.

"We're going to help clean out the remaining resistance. Get him to Justin as soon as you can."

"Right, Drake," Brandon said, and they left the cafeteria, which was now an absolute mess.

…

"Damn! Damn! DAMN!" Gull was limping down the hallway, towards the airlock. "This wasn't supposed to happen! They were supposed to be just a few weak pushovers!" Gull had been shot in the arm and leg, as well as his ink tank, making in impossible to refill his weapon. "When I find that little pink shit... her stupid idea cost me my future!" Rounding a corner, gull stopped when he found himself face to face with a splattershot pro.

"Gull!" Shara was standing in front of him, blocking the passage to the airlock, and Marie and Kirk were standing behind her.

"Shara... Again you get in my way. I should have killed you myself."

"I'm not afraid of you anymore, Gull. There's only one way out of this that doesn't involve me taking your life."

"So drop your weapon!" Kirk said, in a commanding voice.

"You sure talk big, but your still just a cowardly little girl, aren't you? Can't do anything with out relying on others." Without warning, Gull pulled out a knife, and lunged and Shara. She quickly put her finger on the trigger, but a shot from behind stopped him in his tracks. Gull's eyes rolled up, and he fell forwards. The Inkling that had traumatized Shara, would never threaten her again.

"Shara!" Levin said, and ran over.

"Levin... I... I could have.."

"I know, Shara. But you would have regretted it," Levin said.

"Why would I regret freeing myself from his... disgusting grip?" Shara asked.

"Even if it was self defense, You would have regretted killing him in anger. I know, because my mom did the same thing to a criminal that she had been hunting, while on the police force."

"I... I... I see. Thank you, Levin. Thank you for saving me, and keeping your word." Levin nodded, and pulled his girlfriend into a hug, and gently kissed her cheek. The others, who were already stunned at Levin's new found maturity, were absolutely shocked at this display. And they weren't the only ones.

"OOOOHHHH! Big brother melted the ice queen!" Turning back towards the airlock, they saw a familiar pink squid standing by the door.

"NEPTUNE!" Shara roared.

"Is that anyway to greet your old war buddy? Well, I'd love to catch up, but I gotta get back. Thanks for dealing with Gull, though. Now I can totally pin this on him."

"You aren't going anywhere!" Shara hissed.

"Guys! Cover your eyes and ears!" After yelling this, Drake lobbed a flash bang at Neptune. The stun grenade bounced once, and went off. Drake ran at Neptune, and while she had also covered her face, the brief distraction was enough for him to reach her. "Why did you betray your friends! Why did you attack my people!" Drake said, as he tried to restrain Neptune.

"Don't you think I'm a little young for you, big guy?"

"You really think I'm gonna fall for- AAAHHHG!" Seeing that word play wasn't going to work, Neptune bit down hard on Drake's arm. Screaming in pain, he let go, and Neptune ran towards the airlock before the others could react.

"We'll be seeing each other again. So don't get dead, alright?" With that, Neptune hit the switch inside the airlock, and it began to cycle.

"Drake, how do we get this open!" Marie yelled, as she tried to force her way inside.

"You... don't," Drake responded, wincing from the pain. "It can't be opened until... the cycle finishes... and she'll be long gone... by then... Ugh, son of a BITCH THIS HURTS!"

"Justin, tend to him." Startling everyone, several guards and senior staffers had caught up with them, now that the chaos had subsided. Justin quickly disinfected and bandaged Drake's arm with the first aid kit he had been using since the attack started. Manfred, who was the one that had spoken up, started asking questions. "Are you alright? Is that all of them?"

"I think... so, but one of them got.. away. Anyway, I'll live," Drake responded. "How many casualties?"

"There were some injuries and Takeshi is in critical, but I believe there were no deaths," Manfred responded. "It's a good thing you got here when you did, or it might have been worse. Though, you should have been here from the start."

"If he isn't in immediate danger, I see know reason to delay the inevitable," a senior staffer by the name of Foreman Salazar, said. "Officers! Arrest that man!" The humans looked at him like he had gone insane, as did the squids, since both he and Manfred wore autotran devices.

"What? Why are you taking him?" Callie asked.

"It's because of him that this happened! It's because of him that we were compromised! That alone warrants a tribunal on the charges of treason!" Salazar responded.

"Are you insane?" Marie asked. "We came here to HELP YOU!"

"And it was your people that attacked us! Or are you telling me that you seduced and used him?"

"How dare you!" Otome cut in, and slowly raised her octoshot. "Maybe helping you was a mistake. If you do anything to him-"

"Otome, stop!" Drake said, cutting her off. "I'll be fine."

"We'll see about that, traitor," Salazar snapped.

"Enough!" Manfred yelled. "That is not your decision to make, Salazar. However," Manfred turned to Drake. "I may be your father, but I'm in command now. I can't show favoritism."

"Yeah, I get it," Drake responded.

"But I'm not charging him with treason until the facts are in. House arrest will suffice until tomorrow's inquiry. I think he's earned the right to keep his dignity, so he can stay in Mclarrin's old room," Manfred said to Salazar. As Drake walked off, Manfred turned to the squids and Octoling. "I apologize for Salazar's behavior. We're grateful that you helped drive the attackers off. I would humbly request that you stay then night, so that you can be witnesses for tomorrow."

"No way! I know how this works. Dude just wants us to try to get Drake in trouble," Levin said.

"You watch too much TV, Levin. He wants us to DEFEND him," Kirk chimed in. Marie just sighed.

"Fine, we'll do it. Provided that you guarantee both Drake and us will be treated fairly," she said.

"You have my word," said Manfred. "You ladies can stay in the female barracks. The boys can sleep in the lounge."

Reaching an agreement, everybody started going their separate ways. "Good night, Levin." Shara said, as they started following the guards to the female bunks. Levin waved in response.

"You know, Shara. If Neptune was here, she would be grilling you right about now," Marie said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yeah, You'd better be ready when this is over. I still owe you for that mess in the hot springs, as well as the sleepover," Otome added. Shara just cursed at herself.

An hour later, Drake was lying in Mclarrin's old bed, trying and failing to fall asleep. He sat up, and decided to play around on his data pad, but a knock at the door surprised him. "I thought I was under house arrest?" Drake yelled at the door. The door opened, and to Drake's surprise, Callie walked in.

"T-they said that you weren't allowed to leave, but were never given instructions about visitors," she said.

"Huh... I guess I don't give the guys enough credit. Well, you might as well take a seat," Drake responded. Callie meekly walked over, and sat next to him. They sat in silence, until Callie finally spoke up.

"D-do you remember what I asked about after Bluefin depot?" Drake nodded in response. "I know I should wait, but..." Callie took a deep breath. "I know I'm always the dumb happy go lucky girl, while Marie is the smart reliable one."

"Callie, you're plenty bright. And your positive and friendly demeanor is one of the things I really like about you," Drake said, while looking at her. Callie shook her head.

"M-maybe so, but what I'm trying to say, is even I get scared sometimes." Callie paused, and looked down. "It was much simpler when it was just me and Marie against the Octarians. Now we got the kids, you, and Otome involved. Plus, our enemies are so much more dangerous. Just look at how they tried to attack your people! The last few days have shown me just how serious things have gotten, and I don't know if I can take it anymore. I'm so afraid of losing someone I care about... or that I'm losing myself."

"That's perfectly understandable, Callie. But you don't have to force it. If you're sad or scared, then you don't have to hide it. We all know there's more to you than just the cheery squid sister," Drake said, and tried to force a smile.

"I-I know, Drake. A-and you saying that... really makes me feel safe." Callie looked up again, and faced Drake. "After Bluefin, I can't keep this in. I... I don't want to lose you, Drake. I... Love you!" Having said her piece, Callie went deep red, and looked down.

A stew of conflicting emotions were swirling in Drake's mind. Drake had a feeling that Callie liked him for a while, and he was also enthralled by her when they first met. However, there was something deep routed in his mind that prevented him from accepting her feelings, and it eventually won over. "I'm sorry, Callie."

"H-huh?" Callie looked at him in surprise.

"Callie, you're kind, beautiful, strong and caring. But... I can't accept your feelings."

"W-why? Was it something I did?"

"Of course not. I love you too, Callie, but..," Drake took a deep breath. "You see, you remind me too much of my late sister."

"You had a sister?"

"Yeah, but... she died in the floods." Drake paused again. "I'm not saying you are a replacement for her or anything, but... you and Marie are more like family to me... I don't know if I can move past it, and it's not fair to date you like that. If you want to be more than friends, let's just be brother and sister for now." Callie looked at him, and tears started flowing. "The fact that I made you cry, just proves I'm the wrong guy for you."

"N-no it's not... I mean, I'm sad.. b-but at the same time, you still love me... that really makes me happy. I always wanted a big brother!" Callie buried her face in Drake's chest, and he held her close. Then, Callie rested her head in Drake's lap. "Let me stay like this for a little while. Brothers are supposed to spoil their little sisters!"

"And I thought guys were the ones that liked lap pillows. Sure, Callie. Anything you want." Callie giggled a little, and Drake was relieved to see Callie slowly return to her normal self. Seeing her lose her innocent and happy aura had really bothered him. "This fight is really doing a number on all of us."

"Then we just need to kick their butts so hard, that even Octavio will beg to go back into his prison!" Callie slowly closed her eyes. "And I haven't fully given up. I want to have this talk again when things calm down, but I'm very happy right now." With that, she drifted off to sleep. Drake picked her up, placed her at the top of the bed, and tucked her in.

"I can see why Marie cares about you so much," Drake muttered. "You need someone who can protect you, and keep you from ever crying again. I am clearly not that man. I hope you can forgive me for lying, Callie." Drake got some spare blankets from the closet, and curled up on the floor.

…

The next day, Marie, who was given an autotran, was standing outside the room Drake was supposed to be in, while waiting for a response to her knocks. "Drake, you in there?" She knocked again, but still no response.

"He's always been a heavy sleeper, but never this bad." Officer Lehrer unlocked the door to the room he was keeping watch over, and Marie entered.

"Drake, I wanted to ask you about today's- WHAT THE HELL?!" Marie was completely stunned at the fact that it was Callie, rather than Drake in the bed.

"What's all the noise?" Marie looked over, and saw Drake slowly raise from the far corner of the room and rub his head. She looked at him, then at Callie.

"Drake, Tell me you didn't!"

"Didn't what?" Confused at Marie's question, he looked over at Callie. Then he remembered the previous night, and what Marie was misunderstanding. "No, Marie. Nothing happened last-"

"THEN WHY IS CALLIE IN YOUR BED?!"

"Actually, it's technically Mclarrin's be-" Drake stopped, after getting a glare from Marie. "Look, if what your thinking happened, then why would I be sleeping on the floor?"

"Ugghhh, ahhhh!" Being woken up from the shouting, Callie rose from the bed. She looked at Marie, and smiled. "Good morning, Marie!"

"Don't 'Morning Marie,' Me! Both of you, explain yourselves!" The two spent the next 10 minutes explaining the previous night's events. After hearing their explanation, Marie turned to Callie. "Callie, wait outside, please."

"Huh? But he didn't do anything wrong."

"I just want to talk to him. Please, Callie." Callie glanced at her cousin, then at Drake. After giving him a worried look, she left the room. Marie sighed, then slowly walked up to the human she had befriended. She then curled up her hand into a fist, and hit him in the lower jaw.

"ACK! Damn, I suppose I deserved that," Drake said, as he recoiled from the blow. He had expected the hit, but not the power behind it.

"That was for making Callie cry," Marie responded. What Drake also do not expect, was what Marie did next. She raised up, and lightly kissed him on the cheek. The same spot where he had been punched. "That was being there for her, when I could not."

"Marie, you.. what?" Drake looked at her with an expression that couldn't have been more confused.

"I'm her cousin. I knew that she liked you, but I had no idea that the fighting had taken such a tole on her. I should have been there for her, but I didn't notice. She doesn't always tell me everything."

"It's not your fault, Marie. I didn't notice either, until she came here tonight. I don't think any of us knew. That's another reason why I can't date her."

"Thanks, Drake. And thank you for lifting her spirits. It's almost too bad you didn't accept her feelings, though. I think you're one of the few guys I can trust her with, and you could have been my real brother after the wedding. Well, cousin, actually."

"Thinking a little too far ahead, there. I'm not one to rush a relationship. Besides, I don't think either of our races would have accepted it."

"Perhaps. A lot of the fans already want to kill you," Marie said with her signature smirk.

"And who's fault is that?" Drake shot back.

"I wonder who?" Marie chuckled a bit. "But enough about that. I wanted to ask you about today."

"You mean the tribunal? They're probably just going to ask you a bunch of questions about what's been going on the last few days. Just tell them the truth. Foreman Salazar has been out to get me for a while, but dad should be able to keep him from going too far."

"Why does that guy hate you?"

"He's a lot like the late Commander Mclarrin. Thinks we should have just kept the doors locked, and hide away. I think he might have had the hots for her too, and probably blames me for her suicide."

"That old lady? Gross! Anyway, I'd better go tell the others. Hang in there, Drake."

An hour later, the entire base had been called into the mess hall for the trial, along with their oceanic visitors. Manfred and the other senior staff were overseeing the trial, while Foreman Salazar ran the case against Drake.

"Officer, no, former officer Von Kaufmann. You are hereby charged with treason, dereliction of duty, and insubordination. I already know you're going to claim to be innocent, so let's get this over with." Foreman Salazar then had Drake and all 5 squids, who had all been given autotrans, give their testimony of the current state of affairs. How this new band of rogues were terrorizing both Inkopolis and the Octarians. How Neptune had betrayed the group. How she had lead them to the human's door step.

"So you see," Marie said, who was the last one to speak. "Drake is not at fault for this."

"So you say, but you still fail to prove to me that it wasn't Drake's direct actions that lead to this. In fact-" Salazar turned to Otome, who hadn't left Drake's side since the trial's start. "We haven't heard from the cause of this... downward spiral yet. What say you, octopus girl?" Otome desperately wanted to hit him. To make him pay for the way he treated her friends. But she swallowed her emotions, and bravely stood up. She walked to the center of the room, and bowed her head.

"Please forgive me." The room froze, as everyone stared at the unexpected action from the Octoling. "If I hadn't asked for Drake's help, then he wouldn't have gotten involved in this, and nobody would have found out about you. It's because of me!" Otome said with out faltering. With these few words, Otome managed to win over the younger humans that were watching, and they begin throwing out shouts.

"It's not her fault!"

"How dare you make her apologize, Salazar!"

"If Drake hadn't gone with her, we never would have gotten to hear the squid sisters!" After hearing their names, the two idols joined Otome up front, and the crowd got even louder.

"I guess some things go cross culture," Shara said, in awe of the turn of events.

"Quiet! Be quiet, everyone! This isn't a show!" Manfred yelled to restore order.

"Not bad, Von Kaufmann. Your little band almost managed to derail this, but you aren't fooling me. This Neptune that you claim lead the attackers here? You let her get away, so there's no proof anything you said is true. We're right back where we started, and that makes you the only one here who could have caused this!"

"Pathetic." Eye's wide, Salazar turned to the person who had spoken to him. Otome was looking at him, as if he was the most pitiable thing she had ever seen. "You're so desperate to pin the blame for everything wrong on Drake. I guess even the elder race has cowards like you."

"What? How dare-"

"SILENCE!" Manfred yelled. "Salazar, your role is over! Return to your post, while we come to a decision." The room went silent, as Manfred and the other senior staff discussed Drake's fate. After a while, they broke up, and returned to the table. "My peers and I, have come to the conclusion that the charges of treason and dereliction of duty, will be dropped. This is partially our fault for thinking that we could just hide from our problems, instead of facing this new reality. However, on the charge of insubordination, we find you guilty."

"W-what? But he-"

"Otome, it's okay. I deserve this," Drake said, who had been mostly quiet during the trial. Otome went silent, and returned to his side.

"Even if you had reason for it, your disobedience to both former Commander Mclarrin and myself, can no longer be overlooked, as you are setting a bad example for the rest of the base. We have decided to temporarily relieve you of your position of chief of security, and suspend you benefits until your show the proper discipline that your post requires. I'm also ordering you to work with these Squidbeak agents to insure that these terrorist do not strike at us again. That is all."

As soon as he adjourned the trial, a control room technician entered the room, and whispered something to Manfred. His eyes went wide, and he left the room. Salazar also took the opportunity to storm out. The squids approached Drake and Otome.

"That was awesome, Otome! You really stood up to that jerk!" Levin said, excitedly.

"Yeah. Congratulations, Drake," Kirk added.

"You do know he's still getting punished, right?" Shara cut in.

"But that also means he gets to stay with us!" Callie said in a happy tone.

"True, but that also means that he's working under me now," Marie said with a smirk.

"T-thanks, you guys. I appreciate the support. Especially you, Otome," Drake said.

"Standing up to the elder race really scared me, but I'm glad I could help," Otome said with a red face. Some of the other humans had come forward to talk with Drake, as well as give their adoration to Otome and the squid sisters, when a voice came over the PA system.

"Drake to the command center!" Surprised, he quickly got up, and started to leave.

"I'm coming with you!" Otome said, and followed him out of the room.

"Thanks, Otome," Drake said, as they walked down the hallway. "You really won everyone's hearts and minds with what you did."

"I- I'm just glad I could do something for you. I'm still upset that they are still punishing you, though," Otome responded.

"I can't really blame them. But Otome," Drake looked directly into her eyes. "No matter how that turned out, just know that I would never regret saving you. Nor would I regret keeping my promises." The two turned and entered the command center, but not before Otome gave him the first sincere smile she had made in the last few days.

Inside the command center, Manfred and several other technicians were staring at a monitor with a large map on it."Drake, look at this," Manfred said, and beckoned his son over to the terminal. "We just picked up a distress call on an old frequency. Take a look at the map. Do you recognize that position from the early raider battles?"

Drake took another look at the map, and where the distress call was coming from. "What the.. no, I don't remember being anywhere near there. And how is that even possible?.. that's-"

"DRAKE! OTOME!" Kirk came flying into the control room, but officer Niwa quickly grabbed him. "Let me go! I have to show them something!"

"Let him down," Manfred said, and the guard released him. "What is it, young man?"

"I.. I got another message." Kirk read the coordinates that had been provided on the message. Their eyes widened.

"What? Those are the same as the distress call!" Manfred said, as he checked the map again. "What could this mean?"

"We've been getting those for a while, now. It's how we found out about the attack," Drake said. He locked eyes with Otome. "This can't be a coincidence."

"Does this mean we finally know where they are coming from?" The two looked at the map again. "But this is... impossible!"

**Authors notes: That was even harder to write than the last one. I really suck at writing touchy feely.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors notes: That was even harder to write than the last one. I really suck at writing touchy feely.


	28. 3.6 – The Descent.

"And that's the report that Neptune gave me." Jade and his boss, were standing in a secluded part of the complex that the rogue forces had been using as a base of operations. The chairman listened to Jade's report with concern.

"So, it was Gull's team that was wiped out this time?"

"That girl seems to be the only survivor, and her word is all we have to go on. From what she said, Gull went charging in to what he thought was the Squidbeak's base of operations, which ended up being another trap," Jade reported.

"Shame, really. For a spoiled brat, he really seemed to embrace our ideals."

"You don't seem too fazed, sir."

"He had potential, but it was wasted in the end. He wasn't strong enough, and his defeat only proves that. If anything, his death is a testament to our glorious cause."

"True, sir. If he wasn't strong enough to win against Squidbeak, than he wouldn't have lasted long once our new system is in place."

"It's a shame that so many won't live to see it, though. A world where all important matters are decided by a life or death turf war. Where only the strongest fighter is made fit to rule. Just think of how many social ills we can eliminate. Even large scale war may disappear once the Octarians accept our ways."

"But, sir. What if someone challenges you and wins? What if the strongest fighter is an Octarian? Hell, what if it's Octavio?" Jade asked with concern.

"Then that only means I was unfit to hold any position of importance. And it doesn't matter what race it is, as long as the system works."

"Speaking of your... partners, I'm a little concerned that we still haven't heard anything from the founder in quite a while. We still don't even know what he looks like, or even IF it's a he, thanks to the voice scrambler."

"I'll only say this once more. That isn't your concern, Jade. Anyway, how is the rest of the plan going?"

"Where moving or forces in place, so the attack should be ready and on schedule. But are you sure we have enough men left to guard the... potential assets we found? Not to mention the prisoners."

"While Octavio's improved toy might be enough to deal with the Octarians if they try to intervene, it looks like it wasn't enough to... convince them to join us. Even IF the squids find this place, I doubt they will be able to put them to use, so it really isn't worth diverting assets from tomorrow's attack."

"If you say so, sir."

"By the way, Jade. Have you been slacking off lately?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Jade looked at the chairman in surprise.

"Someone has been listening in on us for a while, and you have yet to notice." As soon as he said this, they heard loud footsteps running in the other direction. With out responding, Jade grabbed his tentatek, threw open the door, and chased the fleeing figure.

…

"This is quite a development," Drake said, as he walked down the hallway with Otome and Kirk. "If that really is where their base is at, it's no wonder that nobody has been able to find them yet."

"But how will we even get there? According to the map, it's underwater! And we can't swim, remember?" Otome responded.

"This is true, but if you think about it, neither can they." Drake paused, and thought for a moment. "Otome, have your people developed any type of underwater vehicles?" Otome looked at him like he had gone off the deep end.

"Drake, are you feeling okay? How is that even possible? I mean, yeah we have boats, but what would the point of going under the water? That sounds like a death wish."

"But all of the warning texts we got before have been accurate," Kirk said. "There has to be some way of getting down there." The three entered the cafeteria, where the squids were waiting for them. A lot of the other humans were still surrounding Callie and Marie.

"Everything okay?" Shara asked.

"More than okay," Otome responded. "We might have finally found where these bastards are hiding!"

"You dudes serious?" Levin asked, who was wide eyed. "You mean we can finally end this mess?"

"If the text can be trusted," Kirk said. "It hasn't lead us astray yet, but..."

"But what?" Shara said, with a questioning look.

"There's a catch," Drake chimed in. "Those coordinates are a few miles off the coast, and underwater."

"Then are you sure the information can be trusted?" Marie asked, as she managed to get away from the crowd, while dragging Callie behind her.

"We also picked up a distress signal in the control room. The coordinates are the same. Anyway, have the Inklings ever created any sort of underwater ship?" Drake asked.

"Heck no! Why would we even want to do that? I don't even like being on a boat!" Callie said rather strongly.

"Than that brings us back to our first problem," Drake said, and Otome nodded to his glance. "Obviously they can't swim, and neither of your races have developed anything that could carry them down there."

"So what does this mean?" Shara asked. "Wait, don't tell me their using some elder race relic."

"That's the only remaining possibility. They must have found at least one of our submarines."

"You guys have underwater ships? That's crazy, dude! Aren't you afraid of dissolving?"

"Levin, you still surprise me on how dense you can be. Humans don't work the same way we do. You should know that by now," Shara said.

"I KNEW THAT!" Levin snapped back. "Besides, you love me and my denseness!"

"Wha!? YOU-"

"Get a room, you two," Otome said, while shaking her head.

"Yeah, you're lucky Neptune isn't here," Kirk added. "But getting back on topic, what are we supposed to do about this?"

"Well, there might be something we can use in the motor pool. Let's go find out," Drake responded.

"AW! The squids sisters are leaving again!" A number of disappointed humans shouted.

"W-We'll come back again, sometime!" Callie said in response.

"Don't go yet!"

"Hurry back!"

"We want another concert!"

"O-of course we can give you another concert. Just be patient with us, please!" Callie smiled as best as she could for them, and the crowd seemed content with this. They waved them off, as the pair followed Drake out of the mess hall.

"Yep. Definitely goes cross culture," Shara said to herself. They walked down the tile hallway for a few minutes, before reaching a large sliding door. Drake pulled it open, and they entered the motor pool.

"Oh, wow! These are so cool looking!" Callie yelled, as she looked around.

"Callie, inside voices," Marie said. On the right side of the large hanger, there were 4 utility trucks that were covered in the back. On the left, 3 armored personnel carriers and a military Humvee, lined the wall. Near the large airlock, two black hawk helicopters were being repaired. "OH! Marie! Let's take one of those for a spin!"

"Callie... There's no way I'm getting into one of those with you." Marie gave her cousin a very exasperated look.

"I meant for Drake to fly us!" Callie shot back, and stuck her tongue out.

"Yeah? Well, I may have simulator time, but I haven't actually flown before," Drake responded.

"I wouldn't get too excited for a joy ride, just yet," A voice from behind said. Technician Hiragi, who was the head mechanic, was standing behind them.

"Hey, Hiragi. I know the land vehicles and helicopters are out of commission, but is there anything in the docks we can use?"

"Yeah, I know what you're here for. Your dad already gave me a call." The group followed the technician to another large set of doors behind where the trucks were parked. "There's really only so much we can do as long as the factory is out of commission." He pushed a button, and the doors slowly opened, revealing a small dry dock.

"This is really fascinating. I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing your technology," Otome said, as she looked around. 5 water craft currently occupied the dock. On the far side, was an Akula class submarine that the Russians had donated when project Eden had been restarted. Though, Drake never figured out how they had gotten it there before the floods hit. Unfortunately, the supports holding it in place had collapsed, and the sub had suffered a lot of damage.

"I guess we won't be using that," Drake said.

"Not like anybody that was left behind knows how to pilot that, anyway," Hiragi responded. "But you are in luck. We do have one vehicle that survived the test of time." Next to the Akula, were two smaller mini subs. On the other side, was a small survey vessel, and a tug boat occupied the last space. The craft that Hiragi was pointing too, was one of the mini subs. "Marco! You about done up there!" Hiragi yelled.

"Just about, boss!" A voice from the mini sub, yelled back. Marco stuck his head out, and climbed out of the mini sub. While Marco was a civilian, and the youngest of those left behind, he had been a gifted lover of machines since he was a kid. Even though Hiragi was the head mechanic, Marco had a reputation of being able to fix anything. He jumped off the side of the sub, and stood up. "Heya, Drake. Oh, you brought the squid sisters! Awesome! I've been wanting to meet you since I first heard you on the radio!"

"Y-yeah, nice to meet you," Marie said, as she shook the hand of the red faced Marco.

"Now who's being shy?!" Callie said, which earned her a glare.

"What's the status of the sub?" Drake asked, when Marco finished shaking hands.

"There's one more part I need to replace, and it needs to be fueled. Give me another two hours, and it will be good to go!" Marco said proudly.

"What should we do until then?" Otome asked.

"We should probably head back to Inkopolis to prepare. We need to return the studio van, anyway," Marie responded. She then turned to Otome, and looked her in the eye. "If we really are heading to their base, then this could get messy. We can't rely on the army for this, but.." Marie stopped, and took a deep breath. "We're going to need all the help we get, but I can't force you to do anything. I could really use you and your squad, but if you don't want them to put them at risk, I'll drop you off at your apartment."

Otome looked at Marie, then Callie, then Drake, and finally, the three agents. While she still had some lingering distrust of Inklings, she had formed a bond with all of them, and decided that she couldn't just leave her friends to face this danger alone. "Marie, my squad and I, stand with you."

"THANK YOU, OTOME!" Callie leaped forwards, and pulled the Octoling into a hug.

"Callie... can't... breath.." Otome squeaked, and Callie let go. "I- I just... we're supposed to be allies now, after all."

"Is that really the reason?" Shara asked with a blatant smirk. Otome glared, while wondering if she made the right choice.

After returning to Inkopolis, they returned the van to the studio, which got Callie and Marie chewed out by management. Drake and the squid sisters, went with Otome to pick up her squad. The three agents had decided to go out for lunch, and had stopped at the pizza place. Thankfully, they were the only customers there, which meant they could talk freely. "I have to say, I think we're in over our heads on this one," Kirk said, as they ate their pizza.

"But, dude, the only way down there, is with that human... thing. What did Drake call it?"

"A submarine," Shara answered. "And as we already said, we can't rely on the army for this."

"Y-yeah, I know. Still, we were recruited to protect Inkopolis from the Octarians. I don't think even Cuttlefish would agree to this," said Kirk, while nervously eating. The group sat in silence for a while, until Shara spoke up again.

"I think you two should stay behind."

"Wait, what? The heck, Shara?" Levin asked, and looked at her wide eyed.

"You two are still kids. You've done your part for Inkopolis, so leave this to us. I'm sure the squid sisters will understand."

"You're a kid, too!" Levin shot back with a raised voice.

"Not for much longer! Besides, as Kirk said, we aren't just fighting Octavio's minions anymore! Not to mention, we don't know what is waiting for us down there!" Shara responded, who was also raising her voice.

"THAT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"YES IT DOES! HOW CAN I CONCENTRATE IF I'M CONSTANTLY WORRYING ABOUT YOU?!"

"WHAT ABOUT ME? YOU THINK I'M NOT GOING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT-"

"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF?!" Kirk angrily banged his fist on the table, which completely startled Levin and Shara. "We're a team, here. So, either we all stay, or we all go!" The two continued to stare at Kirk, bewildered at the fact that they had been scolded by a 15 year old that was usually timid. "And you two! If you love each other, you shouldn't be talking to each other that way."

"What? How... I mean, we-" Shara started.

"No Excuses!" Kirk cut in. He then sighed, before continuing. "Look, I think the Cap'n should be told about the plan. I'm gonna go talk to him, so you two make up, and decide if we are going or not." With that, Kirk finished eating, and left them. The two went red with embarrassment, and Levin sat back down. Rather than returning to her own seat, Shara moved to the other side of the table, and sat down next to him.

"I'm... sorry, Shara." He said, and put his arm around her, while brushing her tentacles aside.

"No, I should be the one saying that," Shara responded, and looked him in the eye. "I just... don't want anything to happen to you.. and I – Mphf" Levin pulled Shara towards him, and the two locked lips. After a few seconds, they separated.

"I know," Levin said. "I love you, too." The two shared another deep kiss. "I don't want anything to happen to you, either. That's why I want to stay with you." Shara just nodded in response. "Like Kirk said, we're a team. So we protect each other."

"Yeah... you're right," Shara responded. "We're the team that brought down Octavio, after all."

"And we're going to do it again!" Levin proudly exclaimed. Shara smiled and bent over for another kiss.

"I love you, Levin. I'm so glad I met you, and that we got to work together."

"Ahem," a voice said from behind, which made them jump. "Sorry to disturb you, but have you made your decision?"

"We're going with them," Shara answered without hesitating. "How did it go with Cuttlefish?"

"He was napping when I got there. I could hear him snoring from outside the shack, so I just came back with out saying anything." When they finished eating, the three agents left to go meet up with the others. Having collected the rest of Otome's team, they all made their way back to the Eden facility. The hour walk was uneventful, as everybody seemed nervous about what they were about to do. After they arrived, Drake lead the team back to the dry dock section of the motor pool.

"I was wondering when you were going to get back. Marco has finished replacing the broken parts, and I've got the sub fueled up for you," Hiragi said, as they entered.

"Thanks, man. Anything we should know before we head out?" Drake asked.

"Just to keep in mind that you only have a limited amount of air. There is a reason it's called a mini sub." Hiragi walked over, and signaled for them to follow. "Also, you've got four torpedoes, with two on each side. Use your fish wisely. I'll be operating the crane, so let me know when you are ready to head out." Drake climbed on the sub, and opened the hatch. The squids and octos followed him down and went inside the mini sub.

"Stay safe, everyone! I look forward to hearing you sing again!" Marco shouted, as he got off the sub. Callie waved, and Marie looked away to cover her embarrassment. When everyone had climbed aboard, Drake closed the hatch, and walked towards the front of the mini sub.

"Should we have given these back?" Shara asked, and pointed to her autotran. Drake shook his head, and turned to Tanner.

"I hear that you are the pilot," Drake said to Tanner. "Think you can handle this?" Tanner took a few minutes to study the console, and observed the various devices.

"This doesn't look that different from one of our airships," Tanner responded. "I think... yeah.. I can handle this baby!"Tanner sat down, and got a feel for the wheel, floor pedals and control stick. Drake sat down next to him in the navigation seat, and the others sat in the back.

"Hiragi, you hear me? We're ready to go," Drake said over his radio.

"Roger. Good luck out there." The craft jolted a little, as the crane came down and grabbed hold of the mini sub. It was then lifted up, and moved towards the large lock that separated the dry dock with the outside ocean. The door opened, the sub was moved inside, and the door closed behind. As the lock began filling with water, the crane lowered the sub, and released it. After another minute, the doors opened, and bright sunlight filled the lock.

"Head forwards, but stay on the surface until we're close to the beacon so we don't waste air," Drake said, as he turned on his data pad to track the signal.

"Right! Watch me, girls! It's my time to shine!" Tanner pressed down on one of the floor pedals, but instead of moving forwards, the mini sub dove down.

"WHOA! WHOA!" Drake yelled, as the sub banged against the bottom of the lock. "I think the stick on the right is the throttle!"

"Ah, right. My bad," Tanner said, who was completely embarrassed. Tanner put his foot on the other pedal, and the sub rose back to the surface.

"You had one job, Tanner!" Otome yelled from the back of the sub.

"Hey! I've never driven a human craft before!" Tanner yelled back. "But I think I got it, now." Tanner pushed the stick forwards, and the sub started picking up speed. Now that Tanner had figured out the controls, he smoothly guided the sub, while following Drake's directions. They sailed away from the Eden facility for a few miles, and enjoyed the tranquility while they could.

"This is far enough," Drake said, and looked back. "Is everyone ready to start descending?" The squids and octos all looked at each other, and wore nervous expressions. This was understandable, due to there aversion of salt water.

"W- we're ready, D-drake," Marie said, who looked more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life.

"Alright. Start the descent, Tanner," Drake said.

"Well, here goes nothing. Hold on to your ink!" Tanner responded, and pressed down on the floor pedal. The sub started descending into the deep blue ocean. 5 Meters. 10 Meters. 15 meters. While still afraid, the squids and Octolings all moved towards the front of the mini sub, and stood in awe at the site beyond the reinforced glass.

"So, what do you think of the world your ancestors originally came from?" Drake asked the stunned group.

"This is so... beautiful," Briki said, as she observed the scenery. "I had no idea that it was like this. I always just assumed the ocean was just an empty wall of death."

"Fishies! Look at all the fishies!" Yako shouted, while pointing to the various fish that were swimming about.

"Calm down, sis!" Otome said to the bouncing Yako. "This really is an amazing sight, though."

"Oh! Otome! Look at that one!" Callie said, while pointed to a large sword fish.

"I'm surprised at how many species weren't affected by the mutagen," Drake muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Tanner asked.

"Nothing. Just keep going down until-" Drake stopped, when he noticed a warning tone on the panel in front of him. "TANNER! HARD RIGHT!"

"Huh? What for-"

"HARD RIGHT, NOW!" Doing as he was told, tanner turned the wheel to the right, which caused their passengers to tumble down to the floor. They quickly returned to their benches, just in time to see an object fly past them.

"What the hell was that?" Levin yelled from the back.

"Torpedo! Tanner, keep turning right." After a few seconds, he finished the turn, and they came face to face with another mini sub. "Looks like they really did get our submarines." The other sub wasted no time in firing another torpedo. "Speed up, and ascend!"

"I'm on it!" Doing as he was told, Tanner pressed hard on the floor pedal, and the sub sharply rose. The torpedo flew passed their underside, and lost it's lock. Tanner angled the sub back downwards, and Drake was able to get a lock on the enemy sub. He pressed a button on the console, and fired their own torpedo. Mirroring their maneuver, the other sub sped passed the torpedo, and quickly turned on their backside. "Shit! Tanner, turn us around."

"I can't! It won't turn fast enough!" Tanner responded. They could only watch, as another torpedo approached their underside. "Here it comes!"

"W- were not going to make it!" Briki yelled from the back. Just before the torpedo hit, everyone froze up and stopped breathing. Then, a very loud BANG was heard, but no explosion. "What? W-we're still alive?"

"Looks like we got really lucky. It was a dud," Drake responded. "Tanner, get us turned around." Tanner finished turning the sub, and they were facing the enemy once again. They were clearly as surprised as the team was, as they had stopped moving. This allowed Drake to get another lock, and he fired another torpedo. The other sub couldn't move fast enough, and they watched the torpedo collide with the front end. The torpedo exploded, and all that remained of the other craft, was scattered shrapnel.

"Did.. did we win?" Kirk asked from the back.

"Yeah, barely" Tanner responded. His hands were shaking rather hard.

"You did good, kid." Another voice from the back said. Tanner looked up, and saw Kelly standing over him. "Nice driving, Tanner. You and Drake made a pretty good team."

"Aw, thanks, Lieutenant!" Tanner responded. Happy that a female had finally complimented him.

"But don't let that get to your head!" Kelly said, and lightly whacked his tentacles. "We aren't out of this yet."

"What am I looking for, anyway?" He asked.

"I don't know yet, but I think we're getting- wait, what?" Drake grabbed the stick that controlled the subs search light, and panned it to the left. As they got closer, they could make out the wall of a large structure. "I think we found the source of the beacon," Drake said, as he continued scanning the building. "That symbol... It's definitely not part of project Eden, but I think I've seen it before."

"I think I see some doors over there, Should I head for them?" Tanner asked.

"Yeah, but how do we get inside?" That question was quickly answered, when a static and lifeless voice came from the ship's radio.

"*Bzzt* unidentified *bzzt* state your business and *bzzt* clearance code."

"It's an automated system?" Drake said in a confused tone. "This is pretty advanced. What the hell is this place?" Drake hit the button on the radio to transmit his response. "This is, uh, Eden facility sub two. We're here on, uh, official business."

"*Bzzt* Code not recognized *bzzt*. Unable to grant *bzzt* error. Access granted."

"That was awfully convenient," Marie said, and they watched the large doors open. Tanner carefully piloted the mini sub inside, and the doors closed behind them. Half of the water was drained from the chamber, then the second set of doors opened. Tanner slowly drove forwards, and parked the sub next to a dock. Drake opened the hatch, and the group started to climb out of the sub.

"No one to greet us," Kelly said, as they finished piling out. "I don't like this."

"They must be waiting further in," Otome responded. "Tanner, you stay with the sub."

"What? Why me?" Tanner started to complain.

"You already got to show off once!" Otome snapped back. "Keep this thing ready to go, in case we have to fall back in a hurry."

"Hey! Check this out!" Levin yelled from the far side of the room.

"I-is that a skeleton?" Kirk said, with a scared expression.

"Human remains," Drake cut in. "Looks like this was a human building after all. I have no idea who these guys were, though."

"We can worry about that later," Marie said. "I'm sorry, Drake, but we need to focus on what happens next." Drake nodded in response.

"Alright, everyone!" Kelly called out. "Pants on, zippers up, and ink tanks ready!" The group quickly checked their weapons and equipment, and Drake loaded a round into the chamber of his rifle.

"Levin, Shara, Check that door. Briki, cover them." Briki took position with her charger, while the two agents got in position to open the door. Levin pulled the handle, and Shara kicked the door open.

"What? There's nobody there?" Kirk said, as he looked down the dimly lit and empty corridor that the door had revealed.

"I don't like this one bit. Callie, Otome, you two lead," Marie said, and the group slowly stepped into the hallway. The group of 10 followed the metal corridor, until they came to a T intersection, with still no sign of the rogue forces.

"Hey, there's a map over here," Shara said, and Drake walked over to where she was standing. He studied the map for a few minutes, then spoke up.

"I can see several points of interest from this. The prison area, here, the laboratory, here, and the control room on the second floor."

"Then I think we should split up. These corridors are too narrow for a large group, anyway. I'll take the agents to the prison. Otome, can you take your squad and Callie to the lab?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, we can do that," Otome responded, then turned to Drake. "So, what team are you going with?" She asked, while hoping that he would accompany her team.

"I'm gonna go solo, and scope out the control room," Drake responded.

"What? Why? That's way too dangerous!" Otome responded.

"I just want to take a look. I'll have a better chance of sneaking in, if I'm alone."

"That's not happening," Kelly said, and stopped forward. "Don't worry, I'll go with him." Kelly put up her hand, to cut off Drake's protest. "You're going to need someone to watch your back. Besides, I haven't gotten to see you fight yet." Seeing that the discussion was over, the group started splitting up.

"Kelly, Drake, be careful," Otome said, and started to turn away.

"Yeah! Don't let anything happen to sis's boyf-mfph!" Otome quickly covered Yako's mouth and dragged her off. Kelly and Drake slowly started advancing to the second floor. Every time they expected an ambush, none happened, and they had yet to encounter any hostile forces. After 10 minutes, they climbed some stairs to the second floor. The narrow metal corridors in this area, were just as baron as the rest of the base that they had explored, say for a few human skeletons here and there.

"There's another map," Drake said. "Let's rest a minute, while I make sure we are still on the right path." They walked over to the large map.

"Say, Drake," the Octoling elite said, after a few minutes. "What do you think of Otome?"

"Huh? What do you mean? We're just close friends."

"Don't play dumb with me," the Octoling said, and took off her goggles, exposing her Inkling eye mask. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed. I've known Otome for a long time, and I know for a fact that she likes you."

"Well, I- I mean she did say she wanted to talk- but.. I don't-"

"I guess that's to be expected with everything going on," Kelly said with a sigh. "I won't push the issue, and I can't control how you feel, but you can't run from this forever. Otome is the closest thing I have to family, so I will make your life a living hell if you play with her heart!"

"Things aren't always that simple," Drake responded. He thought of how he had rejected Callie, and instead formed a sibling like bond with her, and how neither race would have accepted such a relationship. "I can't answer now, but I give you my word that I will listen and answer honestly, if she feels the way you think she does."

"That's good enough for me, for now," Kelly said, and put the goggles back in place. "You're a good guy, Drake. Unlike the man she was arranged to. Just keep what I said in mind."

"How can you see in this light with those goggles on?" Drake asked, trying to change the subject.

"They have various forms of image enhancement, including night vision. Trust me, I can see fine." The two continued in silence, and still had yet to come across any resistance. They finally reached the door to the control room.

"I was just going to spy on them, but I think we can clear the room. What do you think?"

"I think it's passed time we had a fight," Kelly responded. "Let's clean house." Drake nodded, and placed a breaching charge on the metal door.

"Then let's get loud."

**A/N: User OCs for this chapter:**

**Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: User OCs for this chapter:
> 
> Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net


	29. 3.7 – Revelations

Three hours earlier:

A figure was being chased through the metal hallways of the underwater complex. It had just ran from the prison area, and had ducked into a supply room to avoid the perusing Jade, but he soon caught up and begin to search the cluttered room. "I know you're in here!" Jade said. He nodded to the Octoling standing next to him, and she tossed out a point sensor. The figure's beacon immediately lit up on Jade's automap behind some old crates.

"Found you! If you want to live past tomorrow, you'd best come out of there!" Jade said, as he slowly approached. Suddenly, a seeker came out from behind the crate stack. Jade and the Octolings rolled out of the way, but instead of tracking them, the seeker continued to move forwards, and out the door. Jade cursed, as he saw the splashes of a squid following the ink trail the seeker had made. The figure quickly reverted to bipedal form, and begin running down the hallways again.

While many of the rogue forces had returned to the surface, the remaining fighters were actively searching the hallways. The figure darted between the patrols as best as possible, and made way to the second floor. "Ah! Over here!" A voice from behind said, as the figure climbed the stairs. It looked behind, and saw an Octoling was trying to call Jade on her communicator. Cursing, the figure quickly made her way to the control room.

The staff that normally occupied the control room had already been moved to the surface, which left the room empty. This was fortunate for the figure, as it was able to slam the door behind them and lock it shut. The figure then quickly ran to the door on the opposite side, and quickly locked it too. "We know you're in there! Open this door, now!" Jade yelled from the opposite side of the first door.

Ignoring his commands, the figure quickly moved to the center console and powered it on. However, it soon let out another curse, as the console showed symbols that matched the elder race's dialect. Panicking, it quickly looked around and spotted a notebook that had been left behind by the staff. It picked up the book, and sighed with relief. Remembering that the chairman had elder race scholars within his employ, it rapidly flipped through the book of notes containing translations of many of the consoles main functions.

The banging soon became louder, as more Octolings and Inklings joined Jade in trying to breakthrough the door. Trying to ignore the noise, the figure used the notes to navigate the foreign menu. "Emergency distress beacon? This could work," it said, and hit the command to send the signal. Another screen lit up to show that the signal had been sent. "That should get their attention. Now to change the password." Due to the careless technicians leaving their passwords in the notes, the figure was able to get access to the system's root password and change it, which prevented them from canceling the beacon.

"Good, you brought the torch. Cut this door down!" The figure could hear Jade yell.

"Crap, I don't have much time. Just gotta make this recording." Using the translation notes, the figure accessed the camera system and began recording a message, as the torch started cutting through the door. When the torch was nearly all the way through the door, the figure quickly backed out to the log-in screen. "I'm not running this time, yah bastards!" The figure said after the door came crashing down, unaware that the camera was still recording...

…

"It bothers me that we haven't seen anyone yet," Shara complained, as the squad slowly advanced towards the prison area. "Not to mention, it's been pretty quiet in general."

"Yeah, almost too qu-" Kirk started.

"Don't even say it!" Shara snapped back.

"S-sorry. I just agree that it's strange that we haven't seen or heard a thing since we got here," Kirk responded. "Maybe that text was a fake, after all."

"But what about that boat thing that we blew up? Why would they hang around this place if it was completely empty, dude?" Levin asked, while scanning ahead of the group.

"Yeah, that's true. This is all so strange. What do you think, Marie," Kirk asked?

"I think we'll find out once we reach the prison. Keep your weapons ready, kids!" The group cleared a few more narrow corridors, before finally reaching a larger chamber. There were several sturdy looking doors on both sides of the room, and a dead end was at the far side. "Looks like we aren't alone here after all." Marie pointed to the left side.

"Get down!" Shara hissed, and they took cover at the corner. Inside the chamber, two Octolings lazily sat on the ground. One had a standard octoshot, while the other had a brush. They were accompanied by a platform-less Twintacle, and an Octobomber with out his flight gear.

"Shara, take one of the Octolings and I'll get the other. You two, see if you can capture one of those regulars so we can question him," Marie said, and the group slowly fanned out.

"Why do we get stuck with the crap job?" One of the Octolings complained.

"Seriously," said the other. "Just because that Inkling bigwig is financing the operation, he thinks he can just push us around," the other whined.

"Yeah, and of course all his men get to have the fun job and join the main attack. Lord Octavio shouldn't have accepted his help. I'm a proud Mariner to the end, even if so many of us gave themselves to the emperor."

"No kidding. You know, I heard that-" The Octoling never finished her sentence, as a shot from Marie's charger hit her in the back of the head.

"What the hell!?" The other Octoling shrieked, and jumped up. The two Octarians also jumped into action, and the bomber lobbed a splat bomb towards Kirk and Levin. They dove out of the way to avoid it, but this gave the Twintacle time to grab the brush out of the Octoling's hand. Supporting it with his tentacles, the Octarian charged at Levin. Knowing he didn't have time to attack, he quickly ran backwards and put enough distance between them to quickly fire an ink ball from his blaster. The Octarian screamed as the ball hit dead center.

"Nice try, you- CRAP!" The bomber threw another bomb at Levin, and he had to dive into the pool of ink the Twintacle had left behind to avoid it. Kirk quick charged his splatling, and unloaded on the Octobomber. Taking multiple hits, the large Octarian fell backwards and burst into a pool of ink.

"O-oops," Kirk said. "I think we were supposed to take them alive."

"Don't worry, I got one," Shara said. The two turned, and saw her standing over the second Octoling, with her splattershot aimed at her head. "Now, you are going to tell me what's going on down here, aren't you?" Shara said while glaring.

"K-kiss my... ass," The Octoling replied. "I-it's because of... you that we... are in this mess... that we had to join forces... with our enemy!"

"Do you want to die that badly?"

"Only if... I can take you Inkopolis... scum with me! My pride will not be stripped!" The Octarian took out a large cylinder from behind her back.

"BOMB!" Marie yelled, recognizing the device as an Octarian explosive. The Octoling laughed as the squids ran for cover, and detonated the device. With a loud explosion, the Octoling went up in flames, leaving a large hole that thankfully wasn't a full breach to the ocean below.

"E-everyone... all right?" Marie asked between coughs.

"My Tentacles got cut up a bit but.. I think I'm okay," Kirk responded.

"Let me take a look," Marie said, and leaned in close to look at Kirk. He went deep red, as Marie examined the top of his head. "Doesn't look too bad. I can't do much for you right now, so try and hold out until we get back, alright?" Marie said in a reassuring voice. Kirk lightly nodded in response.

"Hey! I think I got something here!" Shara bent down and picked up a key that had fallen off the Octoling that Marie had shot. "This must be for the cells!"

"Then let's crack these open!" Levin responded. The group opened the doors one by one, and released the prisoners. There were several Inklings and Octolings that had been taken prisoner, as well as an Octotrooper that had tried to leave the group. All of them were injured and tired. But the biggest surprise, would be in the last door.

"Jack!" Marie yelled, as Shara unlocked the last door. "We've been looking for you for days!"

"Well, you... certainly took your.. time." Jack muttered. He had been beaten pretty badly, and was rather dehydrated. He looked at the dead Octarians. "Bastards... death is too.. good for them after... what they did to Owen."

"I'm sorry about your partner, Jack, but we don't have time for this," Marie said. "We need to get you and the other prisoners back to the sub."

"U-uh, were you the one that sent me those texts?" Kirk asked. Jack nodded in response. "Then it's a good thing you sent us that last one, as well as the distress signal. Otherwise we might never have found you."

"Wait, what?" Jack gave Kirk a confused look. "I never sent out the location of this place. Although I did find this strange piece of paper in my cell."

…

Two hours ago:

Jade was dragging the unconscious figure through the building that their forces were using as a staging area. He then entered the large hanger that was being used to store Octavio's improved Octobot. "Where is Octavio!" Jade yelled. Behind him, he heard the click of an Octoshot being readied.

"I'm not going to tell you again! That's lord, or at least General Octavio to you!" Colonel Kumi yelled. She glared at Jade with fury in her eyes.

"Cut the drama, already!" A voice boomed from the top of the Octobot. Octavio was sitting in the cockpit, watching the captured Matthew do his work. "Whatchu want, inksquirt?" He asked Jade.

"I hear you got the new version of the control device ready," Jade responded.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. What's it to you, hipster?" The massive male Octoling just looked at Jade with dismissive eyes.

"Well, I got a new test subject for you. Meet the real source of the information leak. I believe you know this one already." Jade held up the unconscious figure. Octavio raised an eye lid, and looked at Jade with interest.

"Now that's an interesting idea yah got there. You aint half bad, for a squid. Kumi, go get us a pair of goggles! I wanna see how this plays out."

"Yes, sir!" Kumi shouted, and quickly retrieved a pair of Octoling goggles. She quickly placed them on the head of the unconscious figure.

"Good girl. Now, I want you to return to the underwater base for the night. You can return tomorrow, once we are ready to heat things up." Kumi saluted, and quickly headed to where the captured mini subs were docked. Octavio turned towards the control panel of the Octobot. "Time to have a bit of fun."

…

"You guys were the ones that wanted an ink fight! Get it together!" Otome yelled. For the past several minutes, her group had been pinned down in the lab area. They had taken out several Octolings already, but more would continue to pile in.

"I didn't think everyone would be here of all places!" Callie said. They were pinned down behind several rows of tables, thanks to a pair of Octosnipers in the back of the room. Yako threw a splat bomb at the Octolings nearest them. They quickly switched to their octo forms, and swam away. This allowed Otome and Callie to jump over the tables, and move up to the next line. When the two Octolings reverted to bipedal, Callie swung her roller at one, and Otome fired a burst at the other, taking them down at the same time. The Octosnipers quickly locked their weapons on to the pair.

"Briki!" Otome said, as they ducked down to narrowly avoid the shots.

"Roger!" Briki raised while charging, and lined up one of the Octosnipers. She quickly fired a shot, and splatted one of the snipers. As the sniper lined up on Briki, Yako jumped over the table to join her sister.

"Here yah go!" She yelled, and tossed another bomb over the far table. It landed next to the Octosniper, and he could do nothing to avoid being killed by the burst. Briki rose up to get another look, and her eyes widened, as another group of Octolings came charging in to the laboratory.

"C-Callie! Look out!" She yelled.

"Whaaa? SHOOT!" A male Octoling that came in last, was carrying an inkzooka. Callie barely ducked down in time to avoid the shot.

"Is he crazy?" Otome yelled. As the charge passed overhead, it took out a number of old test equipment, and glass rained down on them from above. Briki didn't even wait for the order, and exposed herself to line a shot on the inkzooka. She fired just as the inkzooka readied another shot, and as he fell back, he fired upwards at the ceiling. Ink rained down on the Octolings, along with the remains of several light bulbs. Otome, who had shifted to pink along with the squad, took the opportunity to raise up, and wildly fired a number of shots at the left side of the table, as well as the far side.

"What the hell kind of shooting is that, Guardian Corps Twerp?" The nearest Octoling said with a grin.

"Assuming you have one, why don't you use your brain and think about it?" Otome responded with a grin of her own. With out anyone else noticing, Callie had swam around in the pink ink that Otome had laid, and quickly reverted to bipedal on the far side. The Octolings barely had time to look, as Callie slammed the roller down, and covered two of them with ink. Yako and Otome rose up, and splatted the last one with their octoshots.

"Nice one, Otome!" Callie said, and raised her hand up. Otome looked at her in confusion.

"She wants a high-five," Briki whispered. Otome still looked confused. "Just slap your palm against hers." Otome did as she was told, and gave Callie her high-five. Callie grinned in response.

"A-anyway, we should head to the next room. I don't see anything here that they would want to defend so vigorously," Otome said.

"Right? Drake could probably tell us what this stuff is, but it looks like junk to me." Callie opened the door to the next room and rushed in, while the Octolings followed behind. They expected another ink fight, but the room was unoccupied.

"There's nothing here, either?" Otome said. She looked around the room in surprise. The room was large, but mostly empty. On the far side, a railing separated the room with another larger chamber, but the lights were off and that side was almost completely black.

"Good, because I'm done for the day," Briki said with a sigh, and sat down on the ground. "And why is this room so cold?"

"I don't get it. There's even less here for them to protect," Callie said, and started to look around with Otome. Yako walked over to the far side of the room where the railing was.

"Oh? What's this?" She said, and she touched a small panel that was attached to the hand rail.

"Yako, don't touch-" Otome was cut off, when the lights on in the larger chamber suddenly turned on. Lining the walls of the chamber, was over a thousand large pods. They were all rounded, and some were lit, while others were dark.

"Holy fish!" Callie said, as she ran over to where Yako was. "Look at em all. What are these?"

"Callie, don't you remember?" Otome asked as she caught up. "The humans showed us these when they gave us a tour. They used these to sleep for a really long time."

"Oh. OH! Those! I remember now. Sleeper pods!" Callie nodded to herself. "Wait, WHAT?!"

…

A loud explosion reverberated in the metal halls of the second floor. As the breaching charge went off, the steel door was blown inwards. Drake quickly tossed in a flashbang as soon as the door was open. Another loud bang and a bright flash filled the room, and he and Kelly rushed inside.

"Drop your weapons and.. huh?" Drake looked around the room with an expression of shock. "There's no one here?"

"I don't like this," Kelly responded. She moved the the left side of the room to check the corners. "It's clear over here."

"Clear on this side too."

"Why would they leave the control room unguarded?" Kelly asked. She took another look at the far side of the room. "Something must have gone down in here." Drake looked to where she was pointing. On the side opposite that they had entered, the door had been completely cut open and was laying on the floor.

"Looks like someone cut their way in with an acetylene torch. Did someone else get here first?" Drake said. Kelly moved over to the main control console, and tried to start it up.

"What the hell? This isn't Octarian, and I'm pretty sure it isn't Inkling."

"Let me see," Drake said, and joined Kelly at the console. "This is.. our language? How did they manage to work this thing if they can't read it?"

"This might have had something to do with it," Kelly said, and showed him the booklet of translation notes. "I guess Octurus and Tanner aren't the only ones who can read this stuff. For the elder race, your language is pretty confusing."

"Well, I can't do much with this. The system is protected by a password."

"Try chaosreigns," Kelly said, while flipping through the book. Drake input the password, but was met with an error. He got the same result after a few more attempts. After a few minutes, Kelly's communicator received a transmission.

"This is Kirk. Can you hear me, Kelly? Is Drake with you?"

"I can hear you fine, boy. Drake's here, but he is a little busy trying to get passed a password on the main computer," Kelly responded.

"A password? W-well we found a note in the prison area that we've been trying to figure out. Maybe it's the password," Kirk said.

"Well, don't keep us waiting! What is it already?"

"I-ts, um.. actually maybe it isn't-"

"Spit it out!" Kelly snapped.

"It's bigbrothersucks!" After being somewhat stunned for a moment, Kelly relayed the message to Drake, who gave her an equally puzzled look. Kelly shrugged, and Drake put the password into the console.

"What the hell? It actually worked?" Now that he was in the system, Drake started browsing through the menus. "This thing is pretty fragmented. All I can really access is the security system and the power grid." Drake decided to access the power grid first, and opened the menu. "Looks like the generators are barely working. I was going to turn the rest of the lights on, but that might push it over the limits."

"Guess were stuck with these crappy dim lights," Kelly said with a sigh. "Good thing I have my goggles. So what about the security system?"

"Give me a sec," Drake responded. He left the power system menu, and entered the security section. "Most of these systems are intact, but I don't see anything of immediate use." Drake scrolled down to the lower part of the menu. "Wait, the cameras are still working. Maybe we can find out what happened in the most recent log."

"Worth a try," Kelly said. Drake accessed the recording, and rewound the footage to the beginning. For a few minutes, all they saw was the empty control room. "Maybe this is too recent?" Kelly suggested. Drake was about to exit out and select another log, when the door suddenly opened, and a familiar Inkling filled the screen.

"I think I've seen her before. Isn't she with you guys?" Kelly asked.

"That's... NEPTUNE!? What the hell is she doing?" They watched as Neptune locked both of the control room doors, then moved to the main console where the camera was pointed.

"Crap, I don't have much time. Just gotta make this recording." Neptune fiddled with the console for a minute, before returning her attention back to the screen. Drake could see the sparks from the torch slowly climb the door frame.

"Kelly, can you translate for me? My translator won't work over electronics," Drake said. Kelly nodded, and did her best to keep up with Neptune's speech.

"To who ever is watching this, I have been observing this loose alliance of Inklings and Octarians for a while, now. They call themselves The Chaos, and they're trying to turn our world into some whacked out form of anarchy, where everything is decided in a turf war."

"You can't hide in there forever!" Jade yelled from behind the door.

"Shut up! Your face can't hide forever!" Neptune shot back. "I don't have time to explain their intentions, and it doesn't matter. All you need to know, is that they plan to attack Inkopolis from the south west coast tomorrow! And once they take our city, they're going to attack Octoburg next, then all the smaller towns." Neptune stopped to glance back at the door.

"I found out that they're using an old Octarian fortress from the great turf war as a base, so use that as a reference. This place was only being used as a hideout. One last thing. I heard they've been working on improving something called, the controller. I don't know what that is, but they planned on using it to make the humans-"

"This is your last chance, you runt!"

"You can go kiss a land shark!" Neptune yelled. "I'm out of time, but tell my friends... tell the other agents that I'm sorry for leaving. Tell Shara and Marie that I'm sorry for hurting them. Tell Drake that I'm sorry for the bite." Neptune looked back and saw that the torch was just about to finish cutting through. "And tell Kirk that-" The door was suddenly blown out of the frame. Neptune whipped around, and raised her weapon. "I'm not running this time, yah bastards!" She quickly splatted an Octoling that charged through first, but an Inkling ran in next, and fired a blaster shot at her. She rolled left to avoid it, but that lead her right to Jade. He bashed her head with his tentatek, and she fell unconscious.

"What do we do with the little shit?" The Inkling said, and kicked her head.

"Good question," Jade responded. "We could just splat her, but.." A grin slowly spread across his face. "We'll take her back with us. I think she would like the chance to work off her debt." They lifted her up, and carried her out of the room. Drake stared at the screen that now showed the empty room, as Kelly finished translating.

"That... was quite the revelation," Drake muttered. "The Chaos... they have some real stones if they're going to attack both the Inklings and your people."

"It isn't just us. It sounds like they are after you too," Kelly responded. Before Drake could answer, Kelly's communicator received another call.

"Kelly, this is Otome. Is Drake still with you?"

"What am I? A lowly messenger girl?"

"What? I-I didn't mean it like-"

"I know, I know. Just messing with yah," Kelly said, and she could hear Otome sigh. "So what do you need?"

"We're down here at the lab, and... well.. you two need to see this," Otome responded. Kelly glanced at Drake.

"We're on our way," she said, and the two left the control room. They turned and headed back towards the stairs, when a figured jumped at Drake from the shadows.

"What the f-" before he could react, the figure closed on Drake, and hit him in the gut with an octoshot. As Drake recoiled, it hit him in the head with another blow, and Drake was pushed back over the hand rail, causing him to fall down to the first floor.

"That was a mistake," Kelly said, and fired a burst at the intruder. it dodged to the opposite side, and smirked at Kelly.

"I thought I smelled the stench of a half breed. Did you think those goggles would hide you from me?" The figure stepped forward, relieving her to be an older Octoling elite.

"YOU!" Kelly hissed, as she recognized the other Octoling. "Colonel Kumi! You're the bastard that left my father to die at that pack hunter den!"

"Don't see why you're so angry at me. We were just fulfilling our promise not to kill him directly- whoa!" Kelly cut Kumi off, as she lunged directly at her. Kumi ducked under the punch, and landed a kick on Kelly's side. She rolled backwards, and both Octolings pulled out their knives. "You really think you can beat me? I taught you everything you know. Well, every thing there is to know before you ran off to frolic with those Guardian Corps cowards."

"If you think you intimidate me, you are sorely mistaken." Kelly took a swing at Kumi. She grabbed Kelly's arm, and threw her over her shoulder. As Kelly hit the ground, Kumi swung her knife down, but Kelly rolled to the right, and quickly got back on her feet. She took another swipe at Kumi, who parried the blow with her own knife, leaving Kelly exposed. Kumi thrust forward, and the knife cut the side of Kelly's shoulder.

"You always were weak with blades, but I still expected more from you." Kumi took another swing at Kelly, who mirrored Kumi's move with a parry of her own. She then took the opportunity to try to stab Kumi in the stomach. "Far too late for that!" Kumi dropped down, and kicked the knife out of Kelly's hand. As Kelly staggered, Kumi rushed in and punched her in the face.

"Gah! Damn you!" Kelly shouted as she hit the floor again. Kumi quickly jumped on top of her, and readied her knife.

"Well, that was somewhat amusing, but I think it's time I wipe all traces of that blood traitor from this world." As if in slow motion, Kelly watched the blade come down, but it was suddenly stopped after a loud bang. Drake was standing at the top of the stair case, and had shot Kumi in the back with his handgun. Wincing from the pain, she turned towards him, just as he fired another shot at her chest. The bullet hit her armor, but it only ricocheted to the side.

"We'll continue this another day," Kumi said. Drake fired another shot at her head, but she had already started shifting to octo form, causing the bullet to narrowly miss. Kumi hopped around a few times to avoid several more shots, before reverting back to her bipedal form. She took off running down the far corridor.

"Let her go," Kelly said, as Drake started to chase her. "She probably wants us to follow her." Kelly sat up and Drake helped her up.

"You okay?" He asked, and reloaded the handgun. Kelly nodded in response. "Let me take a look at that cut. I'm no medic, but I do know basic first aid." Kelly showed him the wound, and he quickly bandaged it up after disinfecting it. "Anyway, Sorry that took so long. I think I blacked out for a moment from the fall, and I lost my damn rifle."

"It's fine. Thanks for the save, Drake. I can see why Otome trusts you. Anyway, we should probably go." The two left the command deck, and headed for the lab. They entered from the opposite section that Otome's team had entered, and they were greeted with a sight they were not prepared for.

"W-what the hell?" Drake said, as they looked around. Inside the large room was a rather disturbing sight. The sides of the room were lined with a number of cages. Inside the cages, were a variety of feral creatures, such as amoebas and land sharks, as well as some species Drake hadn't seen before. In the center of the room were several tables. On each table, a creature had been strapped down, and looked like it had been experimented on.

"D-Drake! Is that.." Kelly pointed to the table on the furthest side of the room.

"It... it's a human, but... this guy doesn't look like he's been dead for more than a few days. How is this even... just... how?" Drake took a closer look at the corpse. It had started to decay, but he could still tell that the man was not from Eden. "What are these doing here?" Drake saw a pair of Octoling goggles by the side of the table.

"I don't know, but I think we'd better leave it be. I'm starting to feel sick," Kelly said. While he wanted to get to the bottom of this, he agreed that this was not the time, and the two quickly left the room. Upon exiting, they entered the large chamber where Otome's team had gathered.

"Drake! Over here!" Callie waved, and they walked over to where they were standing. "Check this out!" Callie pointed to the vast amounts of cryopods that were in the large chamber behind the railing.

"C-cryobeds? I don't believe it!" Drake said, as he stared in shock. "I guess we know where that guy in the lab came from, but... how is that possible? No one but Eden should have this technology." After staring in silence for a few minutes, Drake felt a hand meet his palm. Startled, he turned and saw Otome trying her best to give him reassurance. Callie also looked at him with worry.

"So- so do you know who these people are?" Briki asked in an attempt to break the silence. Drake took another look at the pods and the insignia that lined the room.

"Now that I get a closer look, I recognize this symbol. This place was owned by Technodyne. The company my father used to work for, before he signed on with Eden." Drake paused for a minute when he came to a realization. "But he developed the pods after he left. I don't see how they could have gotten his work... unless.."

"U-unless what?" Briki asked.

"Unless someone was paid to leak the information," Drake said with a sigh. "That would explain why they have the prototype model, instead of the finalized one. Even when the world is ending, someone is trying to get rich." Walking over to the panel, he started going through the menus. The colors of his face quickly drained.

"Drake? Drake, are you okay? What's wrong?" Otome asked, as she stood by his side.

"There are survivors, but only four hundred of them are still alive."

"That's great! N-no, I meant that it's great that more of your people are still alive.. n-not that there were only..." Callie said, and her voice trailed off.

"I know, Callie. Thanks," Drake responded.

"S-so what do we do? Should we let them out?" Otome asked.

"Right now, that's not a good idea. No offense, but they will probably panic if the first thing they see are you guys. Plus we only have so much room on the sub."

"I hate to say it, but in that case, we should probably go," Kelly said. "We got what we came for."

"B-but we're coming back for them, right?" Callie asked with a concerned voice. Drake took one last took at the cryopods.

"Of course, Callie. I can't let any more of us die."

The crew left the lab, and headed back to the sub pen. Thankfully, Marie's team had already arrived and loaded the wounded prisoners onto the sub. After exchanging information, they all got in the sub, and tanner slowly guided the sub back outside. "Hey! There's another ship out there!" Tanner said.

"That must be Colonel Kumi," Kelly said from the back. Tanner increased the throttle and started chasing the other sub.

"Tanner! What the hell do you think you are doing!" Otome yelled.

"She said Colonel Kumi, right? This is our chance to blow her out of the water!" Tanner responded.

"We only have two fish left," Drake responded. "We're out matched since she probably has a full load, and that dud might have done some damage."

"But we're gaining on her!"

"He's right," Kelly cut in. "Back off and let her go before this gets stupid."

"But-"

"It's too dangerous! Let her go!" Kelly said. Tanner sighed, and eased off the throttle. The other sub quickly disappeared into the darkness.

"K-Kelly are you okay? You don't look so good," Otome said, as she noticed the stressed look on her face.

"I'll be fine, Otome," Kelly responded. "I'll explain it another time. I promise." Tanner set course back to Inkopolis, and the crew was silent for most of the trip. After a while, they docked a small fishing wharf just outside the city.

"We're gonna get the prisoners we found to the hospital," Marie said, as the Inklings and Octarians departed, say for Tanner and Otome. "Meet up with us in the plaza in three hours!"

"Okay! We'll come find you once we get this thing back to Eden!" Drake shouted back. Tanner set course for the Eden dry dock, and they set off one last time.

"I can't believe there were more humans down there," Tanner said to break the silence. "With four hundred, you guys might have a chance at a come back."

"Maybe so, but the guys back at Eden are going to flip when I tell them what we found."

**A/N: User OCs for this chapter:**

**Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: User OCs for this chapter:
> 
> Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net


	30. 3.8 – One Last Respite.

An hour later, the agents of squidbeak had taken the injured and tired prisoners to the hospital. It was now around 6 in the evening, and since they still had a few hours before they would meet up with Drake Otome, and Tanner, the group decided to split up for the time being. The squid sisters returned to the studio to catch up on their broadcasts, while Briki, Yako and Kelly, went out for dinner to a place that would actually serve the Octolings. Kirk had said he wanted to be alone, and had wondered off on his own.

"Do you think they will be okay?" Levin asked, as he exited the hospital with Shara.

"I think so, but I wonder if the doctors even know how to treat Octarians," Shara responded. "The Octolings were pretty beat up, and I'm amazed that Octotrooper is still breathing."

"True, but it shouldn't be too hard. I mean, the Octolings aren't that different from us anatomically," Levin said. Shara looked at him like he had an amoeba growing on him.

"I guess you do pay attention from time to time. Wait, putting aside how you even know that word, how do you know about Octoling anatomy?"

"What? I can know things too!" Levin said. Shara just gave him a stare. "Okay, so I asked Tanner about it a while back."

"I should have figured," Shara said with a sigh. "I can probably guess what you wanted with that information." Shara started walking forward, but then stopped. "So... things might get b-bad tomorrow. This might be our last... c-chance to.."

"To what?" Levin asked. Shara slightly turned her head towards him.

"T-to go on... you know. A d-... a d-..."

"A what now?"

"I SAID A DATE!" She shouted, and Levin could see her face go extremely red.

"Ohhh! Right!" Levin said, and proudly walked up to her side. "I have no intention of dying tomorrow, but if this really is my last night in this world, then I can't think of any other way I would like to spend it."

"Y- you dork!" Shara said in response. Levin took hold of her hand, which caused her to go ever redder, but she didn't resist. While he still wasn't used to Shara being in a docile state, he slowly took the lead, and the two headed to the tram station.

…

"Damn it! Why did she have to do that!" Kirk was wondering around the deserted alley ways near the plaza, while he cursed to himself. Ever since Drake had informed the group of the startling revelation by Neptune, his mind was constantly running through worst case scenarios. Unlike the others, who were more worried about the upcoming battle, Kirk was only concerned with Neptune.

"If only we had trusted her! Maybe would could have gotten to her before... no, think Kirk! They had captured her right after she sent us the signal." While he was sure the others were also worried about her, he couldn't quite figure out why Neptune was the only thing on his mind. Part of it was shame for not trusting her, but he wasn't sure about the rest. After watching Levin and Shara, he didn't think it was love. She always irritated him, but he never hated her for it. Though, he could never figure out how she saw him.

"So what the hell is wrong with me?" Kirk said, as he kicked a rock down the path. He continued to ponder, but no answers came to him. "Ugh! What difference does it make! My friend is in trouble, and it's up to me to go get her! Just wait, Neptune. We'll beat those bums, then come find you!" Finding his resolve, Kirk started heading back towards the plaza, but then a rumbling sound could be heard coming from his stomach. "A-after dinner, of course."

…

After exiting the tram, Levin and Shara headed into Arowana mall, while still holding hands. They stood in place for a few awkward seconds, not knowing what to do. "Gu- I mean, that ex of mine, never took me on anything resembling an actual date. What do we do first?" Shara asked.

"I don't really have experience either, but I think dinner would be a good first stop," Levin responded. Shara nodded, and they headed out. Their first thought was to get some pizza to make up for the night that Shara dragged Levin to the kelp burger, but that ended up being canceled after seeing the three Octolings chowing down inside. "I think we should try another place. I, uh, don't think we need them gossiping."

"I fully agree," Shara said. "I mean, the elite seems level headed, but you know the letch and Otome's sister won't shut up about it." Abandoning the pizza place, they decided on a middle class restaurant that neither of them had been to before. After being taken to their table, the two placed their orders.

"Oh! I just remembered something! I'll be right back," Levin said, and ran out of the restaurant. Shara was bewildered by her date leaving her, but Levin returned in about five minutes and was completely out of breath, so she didn't take offense to it.

"What was that about?" She asked.

"Don't you worry. Just taking care of a little something," Levin responded. Shara gave him a confused look, but decided to change the subject since she could tell he wasn't going to say anything.

"I feel so out of place here," Shara said, referring to the fact that they were wearing their casuals. Despite not being high class, most of the other Inklings were wearing some form of formal attire. After a short wait, their food was brought to them. Levin had fish, while Shara had curry.

"You look really pretty in this light, Shara," Levin said, as he ate.

"Isn't it a bit late to start with the pickup lines?" Shara responded. "You're just dog fishing now."

"I'm serious! We should come back here with the proper clothes."

"That's not happening. I don't do dresses, and I don't look good in them."

"I'm just calling it as I see it. I really do think you are pretty, though."

"T-thanks, I guess," Shara said, and went red again. "I.. I'm not used to this. He hardly ever complimented me." The two finished their meals, and left the restaurant. "Shall we do a bit of window shopping?"

"I'm game. Not like we have time to see a movie," Levin responded. The two walked around and admired the various shops. They spent a good chunk of time at a small stuffed animal store, which surprised Levin. Shara quickly pushed passed the clothes shops before Levin could bring up the dress again. After a few more minutes, they ended up in front of the accessory shop.

"Huh? The crystal tentacle clip is gone," Shara said, referring to the cat shaped clip that Levin had pointed out the previous day. Lost in thought for a moment, she suddenly felt something get clipped to her left tentacle. Surprised, she reached up and felt a crystal object. "What? Is this-" Levin pointed to another window. Shara looked in, and saw her reflection in the mirror. The cat shaped clip was attached to her tentacle. "You actually bought that for me? Is this where you ran off to?"

"I told you it would look cute on you," Levin responded. Shara looked at him for a second, then gave him a sincere smile, while a few tears streamed down her face.

"T-thank you Levin. I'll take good care of it." Levin leaned in, and the two shared a lengthy kiss. Then Shara pulled away.

"What? Done already?" The disappointed Levin asked.

"If you want more, then you have to make sure you survive tomorrow."

"Then you'd better make sure you do too."

"I though that was your job, tough guy. Anyway, I had a lot of fun tonight, Levin," Shara said.

"And it didn't rain this time. I guess that was a successful first date, my tiger shark." Shara quickly whipped her right tentacle at Levin, and hit him in the face.

"Mr. Akkoro. Do you always have to make me hit you everyday?"

"Wouldn't be the same with out it," Levin responded, and rubbed his face.

"It's getting close to the meeting time. We should head back to the plaza."

"Well, crap. I was hoping to hit the arcade first."

"Boys and their games," Shara said, and the two made their way back to the tram station.

…

Back in the plaza, Drake was sitting alone on a bench, since Otome and Tanner had gone to catch up with the rest of their squad. He was wearing the clothing that Marie had bought him from the plaza shops, and watching the Inklings wonder about. He was lost in thought, when a voice from behind startled him.

"H-hello again, Mr. h-human." Drake jumped a bit, and turned around. He saw the hat shop owner, Annie, standing next to the bench. "I-it's been a while."

"Annie, right? Yes, it certainly has," Drake responded.

"M-may I sit here?" Annie asked and pointed to the vacant spot on the bench.

"Well, not like I own the thing, or belong here in the first place. Knock yourself out." Annie meekly sat down, and Drake shifted himself to face her. "By the way, is your partner... uh.."

"O-oh, Moe is still here, b-but I asked him to keep q-quiet for a bit," Annie responded. Drake looked at her tentacles, and saw the clown fish in the far side. He was glaring at Drake and looked like he wanted to say something, an insult most likely, but kept his mouth shut. "I-I see you have the hat Marie bought you. I-I think that was a good choice."

"Yeah, I like it too. I used to have a hat like this before the floods."

"W-well some of our designs were based off elder race relics w-we recovered from piranha pit. B-by the way, how did you g-get Crusty-Sean and Jelonzo to sell you those?" Annie looked at the giant squid sized T-shirt Drake was wearing, as well as the boots.

"Honestly, I think Crusty-Sean just wanted to have the first human in Inkopolis wearing his merchandise. As for Jelonzo, I couldn't tell what he was thinking. Or saying for that matter. I just let Marie handle that one."

"What about Sheldon? Did you meet him?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, we went there to get Otome's equipment first. He's about the only person I've seen react calmly to me, though I think he was nerding out on the inside," Drake responded. Annie chuckled a little at this. She was getting used to talking to him, and stuttering less and less.

"That sounds like Sheldon all right. I think meeting the race that left us so much of our technology, was a dream of his. T-though, I never asked him about it." The two sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So what brings you out here?" Drake asked.

"O-oh, I just needed a break for a few minutes, and then I saw you out here. Y-you looked like something was on your mind."

"Well, I can't deny that, but I could say the same about the look you have on your face. Not to mention, going as far as to tell the fish to keep his big trap shut." If looks could kill, Drake would have been dead 5 times over from the glare Moe was giving him.

"C-can you keep a secret, Mr. human?" Annie asked.

"Just call me Drake," he responded. "And if you are okay with telling me, then this stays between us." As Marie once said, he couldn't help but to want to help her. Not even a human could resist the desire to protect the polite little anemone.

"There's a guy I like... but... a-as you can see, I'm not brave at all... and I can't..."

"Can't talk to him?" Drake said. He was curious on just who the girl had eyes for, but decided not to ask.

"I can talk to him, but... I can never bring my self to actually... y-you know, tell him. I-I was wondering if you had some sort of elder race secret f-for love?" Drake suddenly started lightly laughing to himself, which made Annie's eyes go wide.

"Sorry. Sorry, Annie. I'm really not laughing at you." As Drake recomposed himself, Annie's expression relaxed a little, now that she knew he wasn't making fun of her. "It's just that we aren't as great as you all seem to think we are. Sure, we might have left you a lot of technology, but I can assure you that there is nothing great about us."

"B-but you seem like a pretty neat guy," Annie responded, somewhat surprised. "And Marie likes you. One thing I know about her, is that she is picky about her friends."

"Believe me. Before the floods, I could have introduced you to quite a number of selfish jerks. And don't even get me started about the politics."

"O-oh, I see," Annie responded with a surprised look. "There is a lot of debate about how the elder race really was, but I always thought they must have been amazing people."

"Well, sorry to crush your dreams there. Besides, I don't have much experience with that sort of thing either," Drake responded. "But I can say that nothing will ever progress if you don't take the risk, and the guy you like will probably be too dense to figure it out his own. Things like that go cross-culture." Drake stopped for a moment, and thought about what to say next. "I would say to give yourself a little time to build your courage and sort out your feelings, then give it to him directly, but I wouldn't take any advice from a guy like me."

"I- I think that's good advice. I'll keep that in mind, Drake. Thank you," Annie said. Drake shrugged in response. "S-so what's bothering you then?"

"Same as you. Well, not quite the same." Drake responded.

"W-what? I thought you were with Marie?" This caused Drake to laugh again.

"Marie, huh? That's a good one," Drake smirked a bit, as Annie looked at him in confusion.

"But I saw you two in front of the shop. You linked arms."

"That was just Marie screwing with me. I mean, I really do like her and all, but only as friends. I'm pretty sure it's the same for her. I don't think we are even each others type."

"S-so what is it?" Annie asked again. Drake sighed in response.

"There's two girls that like me, both of which I consider my best friends. One of which already confessed, and the other girl's friend told me she liked me. I consider one to be like a sister to me, and she is pretty similar to my late little sister. The other is someone that has been a trusted partner. So you can see how that complicates things."

"W-wow, and I thought I had it hard," Annie said, and nodded her head, which shook Moe loose a bit.

"There's also the fact that I'm a human. A should be extinct land mammal is a little too different from.. well, aquatic life forms. I don't think that would be acceptable in any culture. Besides, I've already let down enough people I care about," Drake said, secretly referring to his dead sister and his first love, Hannah.

"W-well, I think you should take some time to think about it, like I will with the advice you gave me. I also think that you shouldn't hold yourself back, just because it seem socially weird. Just follow your heart, and don't worry about past mistakes. T-though I know that sounds silly coming from me," Annie tried her best to offer a smile.

"I guess we both have a lot to think about," Drake said in response. "Thanks, Annie. I guess that makes us eve-"

"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT SHIT! I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE! ARE YOU TWO TRYING TO MAKE ME SICK?!" Moe yelled, as he flew out of Annie's tentacles. "AND YOU! DON'T GO FILLING HER HEAD WITH A BUNCH OF SS! I SWEAR, IF I EVER SEE YOU SET FOOT IN OUR STORE AGAIN, I'LL-" With one surprisingly quick movement, Annie grabbed Moe and covered his mouth with her hands.

"Sorry about him, but I think it's best we part ways. It was nice talking to you Mr. hu- Drake."

"You too, Annie," He responded, and Annie started heading back to Cooler Heads. Moe escaped from her grasp after a few seconds.

"GRRR! I'LL GET YOU NEXT TIME!" He yelled, before retreating into her tentacles. Drake sighed to himself, and realizing that it was close to the meeting time, headed over to the studio.

The rest of their group had already gathered in front of the studio, and it appeared that Drake was the last to arrive. "Drake! Over here!" Callie yelled, and waved him over.

"Is that everyone?" Marie asked, once Drake had joined them.

"One human, five squids, and five Octolings. I would say that we are all here," Shara responded.

"Except for Neptune," Kirk muttered to himself.

"We all know things are going to get real bad tomorrow. We should take what little down time we have to plan this out," Marie said.

"Assuming Neptune isn't baiting a trap," Shara muttered, which got her a sharp glare from Kirk.

"We can discuss that later," Marie said to prevent an argument from breaking out. "For now, let's head inside." Callie was the first to enter the studio, and to everyone's surprise and to Marie's dismay, she lead them to their private room. Upon entering, Levin ran forwards, and jumped onto Marie's bed, while Kirk did the same on Callie's.

"Yahoo! I got to see Marie's room!" He yelled, flopping on her bed. Kirk did the same, and tested out Callie's.

"Seriously, Levin? Do you have any idea how rude that is?" Shara said.

"But everyone will be so jealous when they find out I sat on Marie's-" He stopped mid sentence, due to the death glares he was getting from both Shara and Marie. Though, Callie thought the whole thing was funny. "Whoa! Yes, boss lady!" He said, and both he and Kirk jumped off. Shara was going to say something back, but a knock at the door prevented her cutting in.

"Marie? The old guy you told me about is here," a voice said from the other side.

"Thanks, Fran. Send him in," Marie said. The door opened, and Cap'n Cuttlefish entered the room.

"Gramps! You made it!" Callie said. Cuttlefish slowly walked over to the desk, and sat down on the small chair.

"Been a while since I've been anywhere near here. Though, I would have preferred having us all meet somewhere that isn't your bedroom," Cuttlefish gave a sharp glance to both Kirk and Levin. Drake sincerely hoped he would never find out that Callie had fallen asleep in his room once.

"We thought we would have the best privacy in here," Marie responded. "Er, wait. We should probably fill Gramps in on what happened today."

"Fill me in on what?" They spent the next 15 minutes repeating the story of how the invaded The Chaos' hideout, and how Neptune had revealed their plans. Cuttlefish's eyes narrowed, due to feelings of ambivalence. "That's quite a feet you accomplished today, but I really wish you had reported to me first, Bucko."

"We tried to... but," Levin gave Kirk a glance.

"You were fast asleep when I came to see you, and we didn't have time to wait for you to get up," Kirk said.

"So why didn't you wake me up?"

"I could hear you snoring, and you sounded so peaceful."

"Ahem, yes. Carry on, then," Cuttlefish said, clearing his throat.

"The next thing we need to figure out is, where do we go from here?" Marie said.

"The same thing we've been doing. We kick their asses, and go get Neptune. I mean, what's twenty or thirty more guys?" Levin said.

"Twenty or thirty? Try over a thousand. They still have a full battalion left," Drake cut in.

"What?! A thousand you say?" Cuttlefish said with wide eyes.

"We found a document in the control room that they left behind," Drake said, showing them the booklet that Kelly had found along with the translation notes.

"I can confirm this as well," Otome chimed in. "We went over it with Tanner on the way back from Eden. Even with the guys we took out, they still have that many soldiers from the Mariners, Guardian Corps, and your own squids."

"That... uh... complicates things," Levin said.

"No shit, blue one," Otome responded.

"But there's only eleven of us. What can we do against a thousand of these criminals?" Shara asked.

"Twelve, you mean," Kirk cut in. "Neptune is still on our side, and she needs our help!"

"How do you know she isn't trying to set us up again?" Shara snapped back.

"That's enough!" Cuttlefish said in a raised voice. "Regardless of Agent six's loyalties, we still don't have the man power to fight this... 'The Chaos'.

"What about the Inkling and Octarian armies?" Kirk suggested. "They out number The Chaos by ten to one, don't they?"

"The Chaos probably plans to capture Inkopolis before they can react, then hold it hostage. Besides, we can't rely on either army. Even with the treaty, both sides are too busy worrying about each other, than the threat that's right under their noses," Otome said with clear irritation.

"What sarge says is true. Even when we were helping fight off the attacks, the only army unit that ever showed up is Starheart's team," Briki said.

"True, but this time we have proof!" Tanner chimed in. Everyone turned to look at him.

"I took the liberty of making a few copies of the camera footage, as well as the troop roster we found." Drake passed out several flash drives and photo copied booklets to Marie and Otome.

"It's worth a try. Maybe we can reason with some of them if we show them evidence," Marie said.

"In that case, my squad will be returning to Octoburg as soon as we are done here. I'll try to get some back up from the Octarians," Otome said. "For once, Octarias' obsession with me might come in handy."

"But what if no one will listen to us?" Kirk asked.

"Then we have no choice. We will have to appeal to the turf players directly," Marie said.

"Marie, we can't," Callie said with pleading eyes.

"I hate it too, Cal. You know I do. But the kids are the only ones we can turn to, if that idiot chancellor won't help us," Marie said with a sad voice. "They did ignore Gramps about Octavio."

"We'll just have to hope it doesn't come to that," Cuttlefish said. "Putting that aside, where did you say that fortress was?"

"South east from here and near the coast," Shara responded.

"Hmm..." Cuttlefish went into deep thought for a few minutes.

"What is it, gramps?" Callie asked.

"At the end of the great turf war, I lead a battle against the Octarians and Octavio. There were two installations we had to take. One was Fort Omega, and the other was Octavio's command center. We left Fort Omega pretty badly damaged, so I'm guessing they are using Octavio's HQ."

"Fort Omega? I remember hearing about that battle. I think one of my ancestors was stationed there," Otome said.

"If I'm right, we may be able to use Fort Omega as a defensive line. If we set up trenches, sniper towers and heavy emplacements, we might be able to hold them off with a numerical disadvantage. That's if we can get the help we need," Cuttlefish chimed in.

"Oh! Good thinking, gramps!" Callie responded, who was in high spirits again.

"If that's everything, I think my squad should start heading out. It will be midnight by the time we get back to Octoburg," Otome said.

"I should probably head out too," Drake said, and stood up.

"W-where are you going? We need you, Drake," Callie said with a concerned look.

"I may not be the head of security anymore, but I need to fully fill my people in on what's going on. I didn't have time to tell them about tomorrow's attack. Besides, I may be able to collect a few volunteers while I'm at it."

"O-oh, okay," Callie responded.

"Oh, and I'm going to need someone to come with me to help translate those notes and the recording." The group exchanged glances with one another.

"I-I'll do it," Kirk said.

"You sure, Dude? I thought you were all hot for charging in to save Neptune," Levin said.

"I'm more than sure. If we can get the humans on our side, than that increases our chances of saving her," Kirk responded.

"Fair enough," Drake said, and the group started splitting up. Cuttlefish went to make an appeal to the army, while the agents started working on ways to recruit turfers with out causing a general alarm. Drake was about to leave for Eden, when Otome called out to him.

"Drake, Be careful on your way back," she said. Otome wanted to say more, but decided to just keep it simple, as she trusted him to make it back and return with help. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right. You too, Otome," He responded.

"Don't forget that you two need to have a chat!" Kelly cut in, much to Otome's irritation. The rest of the group split up, and Drake set out for Eden with Kirk in tow.

…

Neptune's head felt like it was about to burst open. She was laying on a table, and had recently woken up. Her gal was laying on a nearby tray.

"Looks like our little mole has woken up," a voice said. Neptune tried to turn to it, but her body wouldn't listen. A moment later, the figure that had spoke came into her view. It was Jade. Neptune wanted desperately to grab her gal and splat him.

"Easy there," Jade said with a smirk. "I don't think you wanna be putting up a fight right now."

"Why don't you just undo what you did to me, and fight me like a real squid? Or are you afraid I'll shove my gal right up your stupid-"

"That's no way to talk to your superior," Jade said, still smirking. "As for why you can't move... well your good friend Octavio hasn't given you permission yet." To Neptune's horror, she soon realized why she was unable to move.

**A/N: User OCs for this chapter:**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: User OCs for this chapter:
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net


	31. 3.9 – The Day of Hell part 1

Having been woken up much earlier than usual, the still mostly asleep Callie was reaching out with her arm to stop the source of the disturbance. "OW! Callie, that's my ear!" Jostled by the sudden shriek, Callie opened her eyes, and saw that she was grabbing her cousin's ear.

"Whawha? Marie?" Callie looked over at the clock to see the time. It was 6 in the morning. Then she looked at Marie, then back to the clock, then to Marie again. "Marie, what happened? Are you hurt? Hang on, I'll call the doctor!"

"I'll be fine as soon as you let go of my ear! Do I look like the snooze button to you?" Callie quickly removed her hand for Marie's head. Having calmed down some, Callie took another look at her cousin, and noticed that she was in her field disguise.

"Oopsie! We were going to go scouting this morning, weren't we?" Callie asked.

"Get it together, Cal! I thought you were supposed to be the morning person," Marie said.

"Oh, you shush, Marie!" Callie responded. She quickly hopped out of bed, and changed into her disguise. "By the way, are we taking three and four with us?"

"Not this time. We can move faster on our own and I think it will be easier to keep from being noticed this way. We don't want The Chaos to know that we're on to them." The two cousins grabbed their weapons, started heading to the south west coast.

An hour later, they had arrived at Fort Omega. The fort itself, was in poor shape. Due to being damaged from both the war and neglect, most of the interior was inaccessible. However, a lot of the exterior defenses and trench lines were still intact. Marie called up Cap'n Cuttlefish to inform him the status of the fort.

"What did gramps say?" Callie asked, when Marie hung up the phone.

"He's going to start gathering up the volunteers. Once we confirm that The Chaos is using Octavio's old headquarters as a base, they'll start heading over," Marie responded.

"I still don't like this. Using the kids is bad enough, but we only managed to get just under three hundred. I'm really scared about what's going to happen to them when they go up against a thousand of those Chaos jerks..." Callie looked away to hide the fear in her eyes.

"I know, Callie. I'm scared too. Thanks to our brilliant chancellor ignoring us AGAIN, this might be a fight we can't win." Marie placed her hand on Callie's shoulder. "But I'm going to fight, anyway. Even if all we do is buy Inkopolis some time, I'm willing to die for the city I love and the people I care about."

Callie rubbed her face a bit, then straightened up. "Yeah, you're right. I'm with you, Marie!"

"Though, what I'm thinking and what you are, might be a little different," Marie said, and finally put on her signature smirk.

"What do you mean? You like Drake and Otome too!"

"I don't think Otome needs protection, and I never said anything about Drake," Marie responded, her grin went even wider. While the flustered Callie searched for a retort, Marie turned away and went serious. "Listen, Callie. If something happens to me, I want you to run away. Promise me that at least one squid sister will make it out of this."

"What are you talking about!" Callie shouted, which made Marie jump a little. "We do everything together! We're going to beat The Chaos, and we're going home together with our friends!"

"You picked a hell of a time to get stubborn, Callie," Marie responded. The two started making their way to Octavio's old command center, which was another 20 minutes out. After walking in silence for 15 minutes, Callie spoke up.

"You know, it's been a pretty long time since it was just the two of us in the field."

"I guess so. I've gotten so used to the other agents, that I had forgotten what it's like. Though, I would have preferred that it actually was just the two of us." Marie turned towards a nearby bush.

"Who's there!" Callie said, and raised her roller. A familiar figure emerged from his hiding spot, and both Callie and Marie's eyes bore a look of shock.

"Jack? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the hospital?" Marie asked.

"I'm done being in bed," Jack responded. "Who the hell cares about resting when Owen's killers are within our grasp!"

"Jack, get back to the hospital. I don't have time to baby sit someone who's out for revenge," Marie responded.

"Would you say that if it was Callie that was killed right in front of you?" Jack said with clear irritation. "But who cares if it's for revenge or justice or whatever. We all have the same goal here."

"W-what happened to you, Jack? W-why are you acting like this?" Callie said with a frightened tone.

"You'll understand when you watch your friend die right in front of you, then spend over a weak in a cell while getting the shit beaten out of you on a daily basis," Jack snapped back.

"Fine," Marie said, while giving him a glare. "Just stay out of the way. If you blow our cover, I'll shoot you myself. Though, that's nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you ever talk to my cousin like that again." With out waiting for a response, Marie started heading out again with Callie in tow. The three walked in silence, until they were close enough to the old Octarian structure. There were a number of airborne Octarian regulars patrolling the sky. If that wasn't enough, the building itself had gone through a heavy remodeling. A large wall surrounded the large structure, and it looked like it had been recently constructed.

"I guess that two faced pink one was telling the truth. I see no other reason why Octocopters would be here. Then there's that wall," Jack said, as they observed the patrols. Marie quickly took a few pictures, then sent a text message to Cuttlefish.

"Marie, get down! One of them is coming right for us!" Callie said.

"What?!" Before Marie could react, the Octocopter had gotten a good look at them, and had turned around to go raise the alarm. Marie quickly readied her charger, but before she could do anything, several ink pellets brought the Octarian down before he could get out of range. He dropped to the ground and exploded in dark purple ink. Marie turned and saw Jack holding a jet squelcher.

"That count as getting in the way?" Jack said. Marie rolled her eyes, and turned back to the puddle of ink.

"It's good that we stopped him, but one of the other Octocopters is bound to find this. We might have really screwed up." The group pondered what to do, but then Callie closed her eyes and shifted her colors to a dark green. She then took out her roller, and started covering the ground in green ink.

"That's not quite the same as the grass, but it should be harder to spot," Callie said.

"Nice thinking, Callie," said the surprised Marie. "I don't think I would have though of that."

"That's why we are a team!"

"Yeah, yeah. Group hug," Jack said sarcastically. He picked up the Octocopter gear, and tossed into a nearby bush. "If we're planning on staying undetected, then maybe it's time we get outta here." They wasted no time in returning to Fort Omega.

…

"This isn't just about going back to the glory days of turf wars. Once all the S.P.A.W.N. Pads are disabled, we can re-regulate zapfish energy for more productive purposes."

Several hours later, the Chairman was giving a speech to the Inkling members of the rogue faction. Most of them were paying attention with great interest, though some were just eager to get to the fighting. A few of the Octarian members were also interested, though most were just scoffing at his words. After all, the only reason they were working together was to topple the Inkopolis regime, as well as to dethrone emperor Octurus.

"And just think of what we can accomplish with our new system of might makes right! The next chairman of Tentatek could be any one of you! The next Inkling chancellor could be decided by a single battle. Why settle for some sheltered and privileged politician to lead us, when we could have a real champion at the helm? Our founder has a assured me that the Octarians will come to accept our ways, so borders will also be a thing of the past. It doesn't matter how many tentacles one has, the only thing that matters is the strength to take power and make it your own!"

When the chairman finished his speech, most of Inklings were cheering and getting fired up for the upcoming battle. The Octarians continued to watch with mixed reactions. Octavio just rolled his eyes.

"Ignore that load of shark shit," he told his supporters. "We're here for one thing, and one thing only. To take back what is rightfully ours! Once we take what was stolen from us in Inkopolis, we march back to Octoburg, and rip the thrown right out from under that cowardly hipster, Octurus. Once I'm running the show, you can bet all those ink stains that flaked out will be prostrating themselves at our boots!"

"And your loyalty to the true king will be rewarded!" Colonel Kumi added. The Octarians that had been silent, quickly erupted in cheers. "Get your gear ready! We move to victory with in the hour! Let's show them that it's Octarian might that will make right!"

…

Cap'n Cuttlefish was observing the construction of the defenses along the rear line of Fort Omega. The last time he had been here, most of the trenches were on the side that faced Inkopolis, so they had to dig a number of new emplacements on the opposite side. They also set up a number of makeshift guard towers for the snipers to use. But even with these emplacements, there was no denying that they were at a serious disadvantage.

"I seriously have to question the competence of a man that refuses to act on solid evidence," Cuttlefish muttered. "I can't believe all the sent us was just a few squads."

"You have my sincerest apologies," Starheart said with a bow. "I'm at a loss on how they could treat the legendary Squidbeak leader that way."

"The worst part is, we weren't even sent to help you," Mako chimed in. "Keep an eye on him. Old fool is looking to stir up trouble over some prank. Those are the General's exact words." Cuttlefish sighed in response.

"This is what happens when you only appoint those that think the same way as you," Cuttlefish said, taking a shot at the chancellor. "I can see why The Chaos was able to recruit a full battalion."

"Well, if they do show up, I'll be sure to radio command immediately. The won't be able to ignore a full scale battle," Starheart responded.

"We both know that we won't last long enough for the rest of the army to arrive," Mako said.

"True, but we can at least hold out long enough for them to prepare the defenses at Inkopolis," Starheart said.

"Seems no one has much hope of victory," Cuttlefish added. Just then, Levin and Shara came running from the other side of the fort.

"Cap'n! Octarian airships comin' right at us!" Levin yelled.

"What?! How did they get passed Inkopolis?" Cuttlefish said with an alarmed tone.

"I don't know, but I counted about eight of them," Shara responded. Most of the Inklings that were preparing the new defensive line, immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed to the other side of the fort. Since they had no anti-aircraft weapons, all they could do was huddle in the older trench lines and wait as the airships approached.

"Wait, what are they doing?" Starheart said, as they observed the airships. They slowly started descending, and after a few moments, all eight of them had landed. Soon after, the lower hatch opened and Octarian regulars began pouring out, while a number of Octolings were jumping from above.

"Wait, what? Everyone! Hold your Ink! HOLD YOUR INK!" Marie yelled.

"Otome! It's OTOME!" Callie joined in. The Octoling that had jumped closest to them, walked over to where the Squidbeak agents were standing.

"You didn't think I would leave you hanging, did you?" Otome said with a smug look. "But because your idiot chancellor refused to divert forces from the boarder zone, this is all we could spare. Also, because we aren't officially supposed to be here, the airships will be returning once the drop is finished."

"So no air support, eh? Bummer" Mako said, as he watched the Octarians assemble. Once they had finished lining up, Cuttlefish counted 139 Octolings and 176 Octarian regulars, including several Octostrikers. To the surprise of everyone, just under half of the assembled force wore Mariner uniforms, while the rest were from the Guardian Corps.

"Uh, uh, Otome? Aren't they... you know... with Octavio?" Levin, asked.

"Emperor Octurus offered amnesty to anyone who swore loyalty to Octoburg. These guys are on our side. But now that you mention it, a few of them would like to speak with you." Otome glanced back at the Mariner line, and an Octotrooper drove up on his assault platform. Two Octolings and an Octoling elite followed behind. The Octotrooper stopped in front of Levin, and gave a small bow.

"My name is Olaf. I have come to repay my debt to you." Levin just gave him an extremely confused look. "You don't remember? You spared my life in Ceph, when you had no reason to do so."

"Ceph? I don't remember ever dealing with... wait! You're that Octotrooper that was guarding the first baby zapfish we rescued!" Olaf gave him a smile when Levin recounted the event. "So what about them?" Levin asked, referring to the three Octolings. All three of them bowed the same way Olaf did.

"My name is Karumi," The elite said. "Those two are Osami and Otoha. I haven't forgiven you for killing Olivia, but like Olaf, we will pay our debt today."

"Kelp Dome. You're the group I fought at Kelp Dome, aren't you?" Levin asked. The Octoling nodded in response. Levin turned to Shara. Since he had talked her into sparing the lives of both the Octotrooper and the Octoling elite, he was about to give her the biggest I told you of the year.

"Don't you frigging say it, Levin," Shara said, stopping any chance of him responding. Cuttlefish loudly tapped his bamboozler cane to stop them from breaking out into an argument.

"So if I have this right, our numbers are now at six hundred and twenty. That really helps our chances, but we are still outnumbered by around four hundred."

"If only Drake and the humans were here," Callie said with a very worried tone.

"I'm not sure we can count on him again, Agent one," Marie said. "I hope he makes it too, but we have to assume the humans are a no show."

"Anyway," Cuttlefish continued. "Even with the trenches and sniper towers, we're still going to be taking a lot of casualties. Is everyone really okay with that?"

"The Guardian Corps stands with you. As for the Mariners... well, they aren't really in a position to refuse orders," Otome said, which made several of them wince. "Anyway, we also brought a few toys with us." Otome gave a signal to the airships, and all of them went airborne. Several of them used their cranes to lower 5 very large guns to the ground.

"Are those howinkzers?" Cuttlefish said with very wide eyes. "Where did you find them? I thought all the old artillery cannons had been destroyed after the war."

"Emperor Octurus kept a few back for such an occasion," Kirel said from behind Otome. "Unfortunately, time hasn't been kind to them. They need some repair work before they can be used, and we didn't have time to do it before hand. That means it might be a little while before they can be fired. But the good news is, we have plenty of standard, and acid rounds."

"Tell me you didn't bring any gas shells!" Cuttlefish said with a stern look.

"Absolutely not!" Kirel responded. "Those were all destroyed after the war. Trust me, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

"Putting that aside, can I take a look at your automaps?" Tanner said, as he approached the four Squidbeak agents. One by one, he took their tablet devices, and made a few modifications to them. Then he did the same for Starheart's automap. "There. That will make it so you can direct the artillery shots. You do it the same way you use an ink strike in turf war."

"Oh, thank you. This will be very useful," Starheart said.

"Anything for you, my dear," Tanner said. Starheart went a little red in the face, and Otome took the opportunity to whack him in the back of the head.

"That isn't all we brought," Otome said, as she gave tanner a harsh look. "We also have a few of those smaller ink cannons. Where do you want them, old man?"

"I'll thank you to not remind me of my age, bucko. For now, can you put the cannons between the sniper towers?" Cuttlefish asked. Otome relayed his instructions to the airships with her communicator. They quickly moved to the other side of the fortress, and dropped their remaining cargo along the trench line. Once they were finished, the airships flew back to Octovalley.

For the next half hour, the group of just over 600 worked on finishing up the defenses. Cuttlefish and Kirel sat at a support station that had been set up at the rear of the fort, along with the Octostrikers. Sheldon had brought his entire stock to the battlefield, and was arming the Inklings that did not already have a high grade weapon of their own. The charger wielding Inklings were positioned in the towers, as were the Octosnipers. Those armed with brushes and rollers, were marking the territory in front of the trench line, as well as laying ink mines. The remaining inklings and Octarians were either taking cover in the trench, or manning the ink cannons.

"I'm sure glad we don't have to share a tower with one of those tentacle freaks," Frost said. While Citra was the sniper assigned to their particular tower, he and Sandy had decided to join her for support. Bass was helping cover turf with his roller.

"Are you still on about that? Give it a rest, tough guy," Sandy responded. "They came all the way here to help us, after all."

"And I like Otome and her friends," Citra chimed in with an annoyed tone.

"Since when did you get brave enough to talk back?" Frost asked. "Besides, they-" Frost stopped when they noticed something in the distance. "Hey, Citra. Do you see that?" Citra raised her E-liter, and used the scope to get a better look at what Frost was pointing at.

"I... can't quite tell, but it looks like a couple of cars or something," Citra responded. Frost leaned over the side of the tower.

"Agent two! There are a few vehicles coming towards us!" Marie, and the rest of the ground crew, turned towards the approaching vehicles, which were now in plain sight.

"Hey! HEY! Do we blast them?" Yako yelled from the trench, as she tossed a bomb up and down.

"Not until I say so!" Otome yelled back.

"Hey, Ma- Agent two. Do those look familiar to you?" Callie said. Marie took another look at the the two vehicles, and then understood what Callie had meant.

"Those were from the Eden facility! It must be Drake and Kirk! Nobody shoot at them!" Marie yelled. The two armored personnel carriers came to a halt near the trench line, and as Marie suspected, they bore the Eden insignia. The rear doors of the two Carriers opened, and Drake stepped out with another 20 humans. The last to emerge, was Kirk. He had a satisfied look on his face. All of the humans were armed with G36 assault rifles and MP5 sub-machine guns. They also wore body armor and autotrans. Though, Takeshi was carrying his spas-12 shotgun, and Reggie had a L-96 sniper rifle.

"Sorry we're late," Drake said, as Callie and Marie walked up to him. "After that last attack, they spent hours debating the evidence. Then it took forever to convince them that it was in our interest to get involved. Even then, these are the only guys I could find that were willing to volunteer. Honostly, the only thing that went right, was Marco and Hiragi finally getting these APCs fixed."

"Well, we'll do anything for the squid sisters, won't we guys?!" Takeshi yelled. Everyone else looked away in embarrassment.

"You're such an idiot," Matt mumbled.

"Well, I'm glad you're here. Having the humans with us will give us a great morale boost. We can sure use your firepower too. Thanks for coming, every one." Marie bowed to the other humans, then shook Drake's hand.

"H-hey! What about me! I translated those notes and the video," Kirk said.

"Of course, Kirk. That goes for you too. You should go join Levin and Shara in the trench. I think they are on the far side." Kirk nodded in response, and ran off to join his squad mates. Drake glanced at Callie.

"Told you I would come back, Ca-"

"Shh! It's Agent one, for now. But I'm happy you came back too," Callie said. It took a little time for the other defenders to get over the shock of Drake not being the only human left, but as Marie predicted, most of the Inklings and Octarians were ecstatic to be able to fight alongside the elder race. Though there were a few that weren't happy with this.

"Great. It's bad enough that we have to work with these red Octostains, but now the fossils are here too?" An army soldier complained.

"That's a pretty shitty thing to say about the people you got most of your technology from," Drake shot back. Before the soldier could respond, a female soldier yelled at him.

"You! Shut up and get back to your post!" The soldier quickly saluted, and ran to the trench line. "Sorry about his behavior, sir." Starheart said, and bowed her head.

"Don't sweat it. I was actually kinda interested in how he would respond to that one." Drake turned back to Marie. "So, how is this going down?" Marie pointed to the area past the trenches.

"We're pretty sure they are going to be coming from that direction." About 30 yards from the defensive line, the field arched into a large hill that prevented either side from seeing each other until they were already in range of the snipers and cannons. "We're inking up our side of the hill and placing ink mines to slow them down. We should be able to pick off a lot of them before they are in range of the trenches.

"Seems like a pretty solid bottle neck. Do you want us in the trenches?" Drake asked.

"Please. And Drake, do me a favor. I'll be up in one of the towers, so look after Ca- Agent one for me."

"Hey! You watch your own butt! If you die on me, I swear I'll kill you!" Callie yelled to cover her embarrassment. Marie shrugged and walked to where Cuttlefish was. Drake turned to the humans.

"Alright, you heard her! Get those APCs parked on each side of the trenches and point the guns down range. Reggie, you get up in one of those towers. The rest of you find a place in the trench, and remember to aim for the head!" Affirming the order, the humans saluted and moved to join the line. One of the APCs parked at the edge of the trench and the gunner pointed the heavy machine gun down range, while the other APC parked on the far side.

"W-we should go find Otome," Callie said. After looking around for a few minutes, they spotted their Octoling friend.

"I'm glad you two are here with me," Otome said as they joined her in the trench. "I was worried I wouldn't be able to see you again, Drake."

"You say that like we're going to die here," Drake responded.

"We've been through some real hard fights, but this one is really stacked against us," Otome responded. "I.. I just... wanted you two to know... in case I don't make it."

"We'll make it," Drake said. "We still have a certain arrangement, after all."

"y- you... right..." Otome blushed a little.

"Darn right, we're going to make it!" Callie cut in. "We still have Levin, Shara, Kirk, and Marie with us!"

"You just said her name out loud, Agent one. You're supposed to be undercover right now," Otome said with a smirk similar to Marie's. "Speaking of which." The two turned around, and saw Marie trying to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, listen up!" Marie yelled. "Things are going to get ugly real soon. Remember that we are still badly outnumbered here, so keep your heads down and use cover to your advantage. Starheart and myself, will be leading the Inklings, while Otome and Octostriker Renko will lead the Octarians. Drake will be leading our elder race allies. Captain Cuttlefish and Kirel will be providing logistical support."

"What happens if we lose?" A young female asked.

"Then all of our homes will be in great danger. We can't lose. Just keep your cool, and your friends close. We can win this."

"Wow, she really is a natural leader," Callie said. "I so envy her sometimes. I guess she really did deserve to win splatfest."

"You would be surprised at how Marie said she envies you," Drake responded. "While you will always be my favorite, I don't think we can really say one squid sister is better than the other."

"Speak for yourself!" Otome cut in. "Marie can't make waffles! Callie is the real winner!"

"D'aww, thanks guys," Callie said with a laugh and smile. "I feel a bit better now."

"One thing that bothers me, though. We did so much work to prevent a war, but now we're about to into a battle that mirrors something you only saw in the great turf war," Otome said.

"I've always hated the idea that 'the ends justify the means', but there are times when you simply have to do something bad to prevent something much worse. This is definitely one of those times," Drake responded.

"That's true. I guess one battle is better than letting the second great turf war happen for real," Otome responded. "Well, I'm ready for hell if you are."

"Oh! That reminds me. How are your people going to fight The Chaos Octarians? They don't know how to change colors, right?" Callie asked.

"That's why we brought plenty of tampering capsules. Speaking of which," Otome dropped a capsule into her ink tank, and the purple inside went much darker.

"But what about the Octotroopers? They don't use ink tanks."

"They just swallow the things." As soon as Otome said that, they saw a nearby Twintacle swallow a capsule.

"Oh, that looks like an instant stomach ache," Drake commented.

On the other side of the trenches, Marie had gone to check in on Sheldon. "I appreciate you helping us gear up, but don't you think you should head back?"

"Ha! You shouldn't cut me out just because I run a shop. And because I do run a shop, I need to make sure my merchandise comes back in one piece," Sheldon responded.

"But we won't be able to protect you if any get through the line."

"That's what this is for," Sheldon responded, and held up a luna blaster and a tank already filled with ink. "Thanks for the concern, but I'll be alright." Sheldon gave Marie a reassuring smile. She just shrugged in response, and climbed up on one of the sniper towers.

In another tower, Briki and Starheart were talking. "Are you really sure you want me here with you?" Briki asked.

"You're pretty good in turf wars. Honestly, I think you're the best partner I could ask for, since Mako is on scout duty," Starheart responded.

"I've never had an Inkling want me on their team, before. Thanks, star." The two high-fived each other, but then they heard sounds from the far side of the hill. Peaking over the side of the tower, they could see ink flying on the hill.

"What the heck? Are they here already?" Starheart said. Then they suddenly saw Mako trying to run back over the hill

"THEY'RE COMING!" He yelled. Just as he was about to start running down the near side, several blaster sized ink balls hit Mako in the back. The bursts from the exploding ink balls completely covered his body for a brief moment, and when the ink cleared, there was very little left of Mako's body.

"MAKO! NO!" Starheart yelled. She tried to rise up, but Briki quickly grabbed on and pulled her back down. An ink stream from a Chaos E-liter flew past the place Star's head was a second ago. Briki quickly rose up, and returned a shot at the enemy charger.

"I'm sorry about your partner, Starheart. But this is no time to get careless."

"R-right, sorry." Chaos forces were rapidly starting to descend the hill side, despite the sniper fire they were under. They quickly started covering the ink the rollers had placed in advance. As they got closer, the armored personnel carriers started firing on them with their machine guns, and the Octarians opened fired with the ink cannons. Despite taking losses, The Chaos continued to advance towards the line, until both sides were in range of each other.

The battle that would make or break the second great turf war had begun.

**OC credit for this chapter:**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OC credit for this chapter:
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad


	32. 3.10 – The Day of Hell part 2

The sight of ink, the smell of gunpowder, the sound of dying screams. These were all starting to become a blur, as more Chaos soldiers attacked. Around 50 Chaos fighters had been killed so far, while the defending forces had lost around 9, including Mako. Unfortunately, most of the mines and traps they had set had been cleared out by now, so the enemy forces were starting to move in at a faster rate.

"This isn't good," Shara said, as she called in an ink strike from one of the Octostrikers. "We're holding for now, but if those Howinkzers aren't fixed soon, they're going to overwhelm us with their numbers." The ink strike came down, and several roller carriers were absorbed in the torrent of ink. A nearby ink cannon made short work of their escorts.

"Getting pretty heated, isn't it?" Levin responded. He quickly rose up, and hit an enemy Octoling in the head with a blaster shot. "That's six for me. How many did you get so far?"

"Are you seriously keeping count at a time like this?" Shara gave him a dumbfounded look for a second, but quickly ducked down when she saw a charger try to line her head up.

"You got a better way to keep calm in this mess?!"

"Will you two shut the hell up?!" Marie yelled from the sniper tower. "Keep your heads in the game. We need more ink strikes on the field!"

"I know!" Shara yelled back. She called in another ink strike on a group of squids that were herding together.

"Ink strikes don't count!" Levin yelled. A Luna blaster tried to charge him down, but due to being out ranged by Levin's ranged blaster, the Chaos inkling just took an ink ball to the face. "And you aughtta be more careful. You'll put an eye out."

"Levin! Do we need to have another talk about screwing around on the bat-"

"Hey! No lovers quarrel in the trenches!" They heard Yako yell, as she randomly chucked a bomb onto the field. The bomb conveniently landed between two squelcher users that were trying to take out one of the ink cannons.

"Dammit! I knew I should have made Yako stay closer to me!" Otome growled. She fired a few shots to stop an advancing Chaos fighter, then glanced at the packed trench line. "Ugh, there's no way to move through this crowd." Otome started to climb out of the trench, but Callie and Drake grabbed on and yanked her back in. "Let me go!"

"That's too dangerous!" Drake said, and fired a few rounds at a sniper that had tried to lock on to Otome. "I'm not letting you get yourself killed that easy!"

"Otome, I'm sure Levin and Shara are keeping an eye on her," Callie said. Otome just glared. "Okay, I'm sure Shara is keeping an eye on her." Callie Tapped her automap a few times, and sent her selected coordinates to one of the Octostrikers. However, before the missle could reach the sniper group that she targeted, they managed to get out a shot. A Squiffer user dropped from one of the sniper towers, and they could here a female yell, "NO! KRILL!"

"This is so horrible," Kirk said. He had left his mini splatling with Sheldon, and traded it for a heavy. Currently, he was also positioned in the same tower as Starheart and Briki to provide support. "How can any of their goals justify all the people they killed?"

"Not like our hands are particularly clean," Starheart said, as she took a shot at an Octoling. It was clear that the loss of Mako had affected her, but she continued to fight on.

"But we're fighting to protect our homes! Our Friends! I would say our cause is a lot more justified than theirs!" Briki said.

"I guess you got me there, but-" Starheart fired another shot, dropping another enemy. "You can lecture me once you've caught up."

"Are you seriously doing that, too?" Kirk asked.

"DUCK!" heeding Starhearts advice, Kirk ducked just as a charger stream passed overhead. Briki returned the shot.

"There, now I'm only one behind," Briki said.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Kirk turned back to the field, but saw something that shocked him. "W-what? They're running?" Kirk felt uneasy by this, as The Chaos had only lost 100 of their 1000 strong force. Though, they also had only inflicted 22 casualties on the defenders.

"I don't know why they are running, but don't let them get away!" Marie yelled from another tower.

"Hold your seahorses, Bucko," Cuttlefish said over the communicator. "They were just probing us. You can expect another wave any minute."

"Rollers! Get that ink covered!" Starheart yelled. Bass, Callie and the other rollers went to work re inking the hill. Soon, many more figures appeared at the hilltop.

"What? Marie! Otome! You got Octostrikers moving in!" Kiril yelled. Stopping just out of reach of their own Octosrikers, the enemy flight starting locking targets for their missiles. A flight of Octobombers moved in to support, and fresh Chaos troops moved in on the ground.

"Bass! Get your ass back here!" Frost yelled from his tower. Bass and the other rollers quickly jumped back in the trenches.

"Whoa! That was a close one! Thanks for the cover, guys," Bass said to the Octarians manning the ink cannons. Several enemy missiles hit the trench, but did little damage. However, one missiles hit one of the sniper towers, instantly splatting the Inklings within, and caused Reggie to fall out. He landed in the trench and went unconscious. He was seriously injured. Justin pushed past the line to administer aid. Another missile was launched, and this time it hit one of the ink cannons, killing the gunner and causing the weapon to cease functioning.

"They're going for our emplacements! Are those damn howinkzers ready yet?!" Cuttlefish growled over the communicator.

"Just a little longer!" Tanner responded. "Just a few more minutes."

"We don't have a few minutes, and we can't risk any of our Octostrikers! We need those cannons ready, now!"

"I think I can get a shot on one of them!" Citra said from another tower.

"Make it quick, Citra. I have a feeling we're next on the chopping block," Sandy said. Citra lined up the closes target with her e-liter, and brought one of the strikers down.

"Shit, we need to get out of here," Frost said, as another ink cannon was destroyed by an ink strike.

"J-just give me a few more seconds," Citra said. Just then, their automaps lit up.

"Citra, we have to go!" Sandy said. The approaching missile got closer. "TOO LATE!" Both her and Frost grabbed onto Citra, and tossed her out of the tower. The last thing Citra saw before landing on her head, was the figures of Frost and Sandy being absorbed by the ink tornado.

"Damn it! They got another tower! All human forces, engage the airborne targets!" Drake said over the radio. The remaining humans turned their weapons to the skies, and dropped a few of the strikers and bombers, but they soon started performing evasive maneuvers, and avoided most of the gunfire.

In one of the APCs, Hiragi was trying to take down one of the strikers with the heavy machine gun. After taking down a few bombers that had tried to make a pass on him, he noticed the shadow of an approaching missile. "Marco! Get us out of here!" he yelled.

"Right! Just gotta... oh.."

"Shit! INCOMING!" Hiragi quickly retreated inside the APC, and closed the top hatch. The missile hit the carrier, and caused it to quake in place. "What the hell, Marco?"

"Sorry, man. The transmission locked up on me. And... oh boy. Looks like the ink jammed up the engine. We're stuck here," Marco responded. Hiragi opened the hatch back up, and discovered that the gun was also jammed with ink.

"Guess we'd better pray that we don't get hit by another one of those." Their radio's were cluttered with chatter from the Oceanics, and since the autotrans didn't work over electronics, the two stuck inside the APC had no idea how the battle was going.

"Keep shooting! No one breaks through!" Starheart yelled, while Briki covered her.

"Marie! We got three of the howinkzers ready!" Tanner yelled over the communicator.

"About time, Tanner! I want a barrage on-"

"I got this!" Otome cut in. Marie looked over the side of the tower, and saw Otome mark a position on her automap. Several loud booms were heard, as the artillery shot a number of acid shells to the top of the hill. The canisters burst in the air, and tampered ink rained down on the strikers. One by one, the Octosrikers fell to the unexpected shelling, until they had all been splatted. "That was satisfying," They could hear Otome say.

"OH! Me next!" Callie yelled, and another wave of shells was fired. This time, the shells rained down on the remaining Octobombers. By now, The Chaos had been stripped of their air support.

"Callie, this isn't a game!" Shara said. "Quit p-"

"My turn!" Levin said.

"LEVIN!" By then, the remaining cannons had been repaired, and were actively raining hell down on the ground forces. Over and over again, the shelling continued, until The Chaos finally started retreating after losing a total of 400 fighters. In contrast, the defenders had lost 50 Octarian regulars, 21 Octolings, 36 Inklings, and another 19 from all races were seriously injured. They had also lost 3 ink cannons, 2 sniper towers, and both human APCs had been disabled.

"I-I don't believe it! We won!" Kirk said, excitedly.

"I wouldn't be so certain, Bucko." Cuttlefish said. "They still have over half a battalion left, and Octavio hasn't made an appearance yet."

"Then we should counter attack!" Otome said, boldly.

"But what if they attack again? That will leave us defenseless!" Marie responded.

"It's better than just sitting here!" Otome said.

"If you guys go, I can stay here with the Octarians," Starheart said.

"Leave that to me," Cuttlefish cut in. "I may be an old man, as the Octoling lass had to point out, but I still know how to defend a fort."

"Then all Octolings on me! It's time we gut Octavio, and his traitorous dogfish!" Otome said. The other Octolings cheered, and raised their Octoshots towards the sky.

"Otome, you are getting way to into this," Marie said with a sigh. "But you're right. It's time we end this! All Inklings! Get ready to move. That means you, Starheart."

"I'll leave the volunteers to help with the defenses, but the security team is joining the battle," Drake said. "And see if you can get those carriers fixed."

"No promises!" Marco yelled back. The security forces joined in with the oceanic army, say for the still unconscious Reggie, and they marched towards The Chaos' main base. As they set off, Drake could hear the phrase (end the nightmare, and make my dream a reality) echo in his mind. Though, all Drake could think was, 'who brought the cat?'

With 260 Inklings, 110 Octolings, and 9 humans, the group continued to march to the enemy stronghold. The kept their silence and guards up, until the base was finally in sight. Though, they first had to figure out how to get inside the outer wall, because a zap wall prevented them from jumping over. This question was quickly answered, as a gate in front of them suddenly opened.

"Wait, what? T-they're letting us in?" Kirk said with a questioning tone.

"They're up to something," Shara said. "We should find another way in.

"We don't have time for that," Marie responded. "But we definitely need to keep our guard up."

"I don't see any other way in, anyway," said Drake.

"It doesn't matter to me, as long as there are things to crush under my roller," Bass growled. He was clearly on edge after loosing Frost and Sandy, and since Citra had to be left behind.

"Dude, don't get careless. I made that mistake once," Levin said, as they entered the outer wall. After about 100 of them entered, the gates suddenly closed behind them. They were cut off from the rest of the force.

"Told you it was a trap," Shara muttered. Taking another look around, they noticed that there was another wall that separated the outer wall from the main building. Between the two walls, was a courtyard that was littered with obstacles and small structures. In the center of the area, was a large cube that was attached to a long yellow line.

"Anyone know what that is?" Drake asked, as he stared at the large cube.

"It's called a tower," Marie responded. "It's used for league games. If an Inkling is standing on it, the tower will move along that line towards the goal zone near the enemy base. The team that takes it all the way, or gets it the farthest, wins."

"But what the heck is it doing here?" Callie asked.

"Did... did we just get challenged to a game of tower control?" Levin said.

"How vary observant of you," A voice from above responded. The group of 100 looked up at one of the nearby structures. Jade was standing at the top, and looked down on them. "I see that little runt tipped you off, and that using our numbers to our advantage isn't going to work."

"What did you do with Neptune?!" Kirk yelled.

"Oh, just a little something to insure she doesn't get insolent again." Jade took another look at Kirk. "Now that I think about it, you're one of the squidbeak twerps that have been pain in the chairman's ass lately, aren't you? Guess I can rest easy knowing that I took something from you, as well."

"What is that supposed to mean!" Kirk yelled back in a tone that surprised the other agents.

"Pearl and I.. we were cast out of your precious city, once. The chairman took us in. Raised us. Sure, his vision might be totally insane, and Pearl was a cold killer, but they are still my family."

""That's no reason to attack innocent people!" Starheart yelled back. "Cease your babbling, and stand aside! I feel rather disgusted knowing we let you on our team."

"Hold your seahorses, league player! Since brute force didn't work, we're going to have a fair fight. You know tower control. Only this time, there are no S.P.A.W.N. Pads, and it's a hundred of us versus a hundred of you." When he finished speaking, a mixed force of 100 Inklings and Octolings rose from the surrounding structures. "If the tower reaches our side, then you win, and both gates open. But if we win, then the bombs we planted around our base will detonate, and all the rabble waiting outside will die."

Starheart glanced over at Briki. "Do it!"

"No problem," Briki replied, and tried to quick shot Jade. Predicting this, he dove out of the way, and Chaos fighters started moving towards the tower.

"Dammit! Quit using my squad as you please!" Otome yelled. The alliance moved in to try to claim the tower before The Chaos could. But their efforts were in vain, as the first few Inklings to reach it, were quickly splatted by Chaos fighters. They took the tower, and team squidbeak was forced to retreat. Things quickly became chaotic as several more failed attempts to take the tower from the chaos. Every time they cleared the top, more Chaos fighters would jump in from afar.

"No fair!" Yako yelled, as she lobbed a perfect bomb onto the tower, splatting several Octolings. "Otome! They aren't playing nice!"

"She's got a point, Starheart! You're the league player. How do we turn this around?" Otome said.

"I don't know! I've never been in this situation," Starheart responded.

"Oh for crying out loud! Is this what the army is capable of, these days?" With out warning, a dark purple inkling jumped from behind, and fired a squiffer shot at the enemy Octoling riding the tower. She quickly fell from the tower with a scream.

"Not her again!" Levin complained. The purple Inkling turned to him.

"Unless you want me to switch sides, quit whining!" Iris grabbed Levin, and swung him around.

"What the hell? WHHAAA!" Levin was tossed into the air, and he landed on the tower. Having registered his landing, the tower started moving in the direction of the far gate.

"Iris? What are you doing here? I thought you were going to stay at Camp Triggerfish?" Marie said with surprise.

"You see, when you mess with Inkopolis, you mess with Camp Triggerfish. And when you mess with Triggerfish, you mess with the kids. AND NOBODY MESSES WITH THE KIDS, EXCEPT ME!" Iris roared. She fired another shot, and jumped into action. "Red, runt, orange, you stay close to me!"

"Don't order me around!" Otome shot back. Despite her protest, she joined formation with Iris, along with Yako and Shara. With their support, Iris zipped along various ink trails, and would constantly pop out to splat any Chaos fighter that would get close to the tower. Eventually, A young hydra splatling user jumped on the tower to join Levin, and the tower's speed increased.

"Watch my back. I got the front, man," The hydra user said.

"Right, dude," Levin responded. The tower started moving through a more complex set of structures that were designed for ambushes. "Sniper! Look out!" Levin yelled. He tried to pull the Hydra user out of the way, but the shot ended up hitting Levin in the arm. He was knocked back, and fell off the tower. Shara quickly broke formation, and pulled Levin behind cover to treat his injury.

"Holy! Where did he go?" The hydra user aimed his weapon around to try and find the sniper, until he spotted a body on a ledge. Hearing a noise behind him, he turned to see an Octoling holding an inkzooka. "Whoa! Did you do that?"

"Keep your weapon forward," The Octoling said in a low voice.

"Ah, right. I'm Croy. Let's take it in, uh.."

"Otoha. I need you to stay focused." With Croy mowing down frontal targets with his hydra, and Otoha covering his back, the Tower made significant progress towards the marker. Iris zoomed around, and engaged targets that Croy missed.

"Otoha! There's a rapid blaster to our right!" Croy said. He glanced back, and saw that the blaster had already got a shot off, and Otoha was face down on the tower. Croy turned his weapon to the blaster, but couldn't charge it fast enough. He expected to be splatted any second, but instead, a loud bang was heard, and the blaster fell dead.

"That was a close one. You good, buddy?" Takeshi said, as he climbed on the tower, then reloaded his shotgun.

"O-oh, thanks elder race guy! You're a real life saver." As Croy and Takeshi rode the tower into the goal zone, Bass charged ahead to clear the final line of resistance. Though, Callie had to rush in behind him to keep Bass from getting himself splatted. The tower reached the goal, and the remaining Chaos fighters surrendered. The rear and front gates opened, and the friendly fighters that had been locked out started pouring in.

"Good work, everyone!" Marie said, as Takeshi helped Croy lower Otoha off the tower to get de-splatting treatment. "By the way. Did anyone see Jade? I expected a showdown after all that SS he spewed."

"He's over there," Drake said, and pointed to the burnt body of Jade.

"That... That's really anticlimactic. I'm almost disappointed," Levin said.

"Geez. After all that, he just up and died from a random shot," Callie said.

"Well, it cost the life of one of my guys. Niwa was grappling with Jade, and somehow the pin on one of his grenades was pulled. You can see how that turned out."

"O- oh, Drake I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"It's fine, Callie. We just gotta make sure his death counts." The Chaos had lost another 100 soldiers, while the alliance had lost 25 more Octolings, 13 Inklings, 1 human, and another 25 were injured.

"Alright. The gates are open. Everyone that can still fight, follow us! Those that can't, stay behind and help treat the wounded," Marie said.

"I guess this is where I get off," Iris said. "I'll help the wounded, but after that, I'm hopping back to Camp Triggerfish."

"Thanks, uh, Iris, was it?. We would have lost that If you hadn't shown up." Starheart said. "I guess I'm not a very good commander, after all."

"Yeah, yeah. Real combat is a lot different that league battles, isn't it? But you'll get used to it."

"Who are you, Really?" Shara asked, who was still out of breath.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Iris responded, and left to help with the wounded. Following Marie's lead, those that could still fight, entered the yard that lead to the main building. However, there was one more obstacle that prevented them from entering the compound.

"I was wondering when he would show up," Shara hissed.

"I see that useless hipster couldn't even win at his own game," Octavio said from his improved Octobot. "This should prove once and for all who the dominant species is."

"We kicked your ass once, and we can do it again!" Levin yelled. He charged forward with several other Inklings and Octolings.

"No! Levin, wait!" Shara tried to warn him about the new weapons that had replaced the Octobot fists, but it came to late.

"Holy Crap! RAINMAKER!" Levin yelled, and barely avoided the huge ink tornado. Unfortunately, the other Inklings weren't so lucky, and 5 of them were wiped out with a single shot. The Octolings, however, weren't affected by this, due to being the same color.

"That won't work on us! Octolings, Charge!" Otome yelled, and many of the remaining Octolings ran towards the Octobot, spraying tampered ink at the cockpit. Though, these attacks proved to be ineffective, as they merely bounced off the shield.

"You think I wasn't prepared for this, yah ink stain!" Octavio boomed. He started working the controls, and a familiar song could be heard from the loudspeakers.

"Ugh, not this again," Levin said, as his head started throbbing. "I don't suppose the squid sisters can do something about it."

"Never mind that. Look at the Octolings," Shara said. The charging Octolings had stopped in their tracks for a few seconds. Then, they started slowly turning around, and raising their weapons at their own teammates.

"W-what's going on?" Callie cried. As if in response, the Octolings, Including Otome, started attacking their Inkling allies.

"They're being controlled by something! Everyone, fallback!" Marie yelled. The Inklings started scrambling to get out of the way.

"That's right! Run, losers!" Octavio yelled, while firing rainmaker shots at the retreating Inklings. The humans all scattered in different directions, unsure what to do. Drake, on the other hand, was focused on Otome.

"Otome! Snap out of it! It's me Drake!" He pleaded. Otome mindlessly fired at him.

"That aint gonna work, Bonehead!" Octavio laughed, and fired an rainmaker shot at Drake. He ran from the shot, and dove behind a large stack of crates. With her weapon raised, Otome quickly followed.

...

In another area. An Octoling that hadn't been affected by the brainwashing, was scanning the area for a certain target. She watched as Otome chased Drake behind the stacks. She wanted to help, but decided to entrust her to Drake, as her target had come out of the main complex. Colonel Kumi was directing the enemy reinforcements, and they were pushing back the alliance Inklings, along with Octavio's deadly rainmaker shots and torpedoes.

"Colonel Kumi. I will be the one to bring you down," Kelly said, as she jumped into action. Pretending to be affected by the controller, she pushed passed the chaos reinforcements, until she was in range of Kumi. She then jumped behind her, and landed a kick to Kumi's back side.

"WHO THE-" Kumi's surprise turned to a grin, as she recognized her opponent. "Well, well. If it isn't the monster. This should be interesting." Kelly threw down her Octoshot, and pulled out her knife.

"Colonel Kumi. Shall we continue where we left off?"

...

Back behind the crate stack, Drake was waiting for Otome to get closer. When she was just about to reach him, he leaped out, and tried to tackle Otome. However, the brainwashing was becoming more effective, and she was moving faster. She blocked his attack, then landed a punch to his chest. Drake recoiled, and fell backwards. She then tried to take the rifle from him.

"Come one, Otome! Fight this!" Drake said. Showing no signs of letting up, Otome was trying to press the barrel of the rifle to Drakes head. Using every ounce of his own strength, he pushed back. This went on for several seconds, until a shot was fired. Drake's eyes went wide, as he noticed that he had pushed the barrel back far enough, and it was pointed at her head. Otome's movements stopped, and she went limp.

"Oh, damn! OH, SHIT! Tell me I didn't!" Freaking out, Drake soon sighed with relief when he heard Otome moan a bit. The shot had actually hit her goggles, and ricocheted elsewhere. The goggles were heavily cracked, and Drake quickly removed them from her face. Otome blinked several times, until her eyes focused on him.

"D- Drake.. DRAKE!" Otome reached up, and pulled him into a hug. "You have no idea how awful that was! I was conscious during the whole thing, but couldn't do a damn thing to stop it."

"It's okay, Otome. I'm here, and your back now," Drake responded, returning the hug and gently rubbing the top of her tentacles. Otome glanced at her broken goggles.

"It must have been those goggles that were controlling us. The Mariners designed them, but I had no idea a function like that was built into them."

"Well, now we have to figure something out about how to deal with him," Drake said, glancing at Octavio, who had splatted several more Inklings. At one point, one of the humans, Officer Keagan, tried to push past the controlled Octolings, but was hit with another rainmaker shot. The tornado hit dead center, and Keagan fell dead from the ink overdose.

"Damn it! Even we can't take that kind of punishment," Drake muttered.

"I have an idea." Otome picked up the broken goggles, and placed them on her head. She then raised her weapon, and pointed it at Drake. "Get up, Fossil!" She shouted.

"Wait, what the hell, Otome?"

"I SAID GET UP!" Drake raised his hands, and Otome hit him in the back with her Octoshot. "Now move!" She marched him from behind the boxes, and towards the Octobot. "Lord Octavio! I Captured the leader of the humans."

"Oh? This is a surprise. I hadn't expected the controller to be that effective. Nice work, soldier. You will go far in my new army." Octavio turned towards Drake. "Now, be a pal, and get your friends to surrender. If you fight for me, I'll let you join my army too."

"You can go to hell," Drake responded with out a second thought.

"Tch. The bonehead is as dense as I thought. If that's how yah want it, then I'll let her splat you." Otome fired two shots at Drake's chest. He dropped to the ground, and went limp. "That's what I like to see!" Octavio said. He lowered to the Octobot to the ground, so Otome could climb aboard. "Welcome to the correct side, soldier. What's your name?"

"Sargent Otome Maroon. Guardian Corps unit forty three." Octavio whipped around, and looked the Octoling that now shared his cockpit with. "Tell me, false king. As a liar, shouldn't you know a farce when you see one?" Otome had placed 2 suction bombs on both sides of the cock pit, and was holding another splat bomb. "Didn't expect an attack from within, did you?"

"Oh, you little shit!" Octavio tried to grab her with a tentacle, but she jumped out of the cockpit, dropping the bomb in his face before falling. All three bombs exploded, and the Octobot started going up in flames. "AHHH! NOT AGAIN!" The giant flying robot exploded, and Octavio was, once again, ejected. "Cross...fade.. to black?" He said before passing out. Tossing the broken goggles aside, Otome quickly ran to Drake's side and helped him get up. Now that the Octobot was destroyed, the Octolings that were under its control stopped their attacks on their Inkling allies.

...

On the far side, Kelly was locked in a knife battle with Kumi. Both had numerous cuts, and were rapidly getting tired. "Why won't you just die already? You aren't wanted by either race," Kumi said. She thrust fowrads, but Kelly dodge to the left.

"I was wanted. By the people you helped kill," Kelly responded. Kelly thrust forward, and knocked the knife out of Kumi's hand. "And I think you are the one that is out of place in this world." Kelly kicked Kumi in the waist, and she fell backwards. After rolling a bit, she caught sight of Octavio, who was unconscious on the ground.

"L-Lord Octavio! SOMEONE HELP HIM!" Kumi yelled. She quickly got up, and tried to run to him, while Kelly pursued her. However, an unexpected beam from an orange killer wail suddenly blocked her path. Kelly, who didn't care what the source of this good fortune was, used the opportunity to get behind Kumi.

"This is for my parents!" Kelly kicked Kumi in the back, and she was propelled right into the killer wail beam. Kumi screamed as her body was disintegrated from the wail beam, and she was no more. After the wail blast ended, Kelly caught site of Otome and Drake. Having considered Otome her best friend, Kelly was immediately filled with shame, since she had pursued Kumi instead of helping her. "I guess I don't have much right calling her my friend." Kelly quickly made an ink trail, and switched forms to follow it away from the battlefield.

...

"Where the hell did that come from?" Levin asked, as another wail beam killed several more Chaos fighters.

"Over there! I-is that the army?" Kirk asked, while pointing. On the far right side of the wall, several large vehicles had blasted a hole in the barrier, and were engaging the remaining soldiers.

"Those kinda look like battle tanks," Drake said, as he walked over to where the agents were.

"It's called an ink Panzer," Shara responded. "But when the hell did the army get here? And why?"

"GYAHAHA! DON'T LET THEM HAVE ALL THE FUN!" A loud voice boomed from the left.

"Oh, don't tell me..." Otome groaned. An Octarian airship was hovering near the left wall, and Octolings were jumping out in large numbers. Leading the charge, was none other than Emperor Octurus himself. Much to the dismay of Octarias and his commandos, he was single handedly charging down large numbers of Chaos fighters, taking out groups of them with a single swipe of his Octobrush.

"That guy is so much more scary in person," Levin said with disbelief.

"Wait until you try shaking hands," Drake responded.

"Everyone! Move in while the army and the Octarians keep them busy! We need to get inside that building and keep the so called chairman from escaping!" Marie shouted. Having time to regroup, the Squidbeak lead group of Inklings, Octolings and humans, moved up to the main entrance. By now, the Chaos only had less than 200 fighters left, and most of them had retreated back inside.

"Drake! We found another way in," Brandon said, as he ran up to Drake. "Matt found it when those cyclone things scattered us." Drake looked at the forces that had gathered at the main entrance. They looked ready to kick the door in, and weren't going to wait on anything.

"Take the squad and what ever forces you can gather, and try to sneak in. I'm staying with them."

"But, Drake. We need you to-"

"Just do it! This isn't the first time you've had to take over for me. You'll be fine."

"S-Sir!" Brandon said, and the humans quickly circled around the back. Drake planted a breaching charge on the door, and quickly blew it open.

"You all stay here," Marie said to the gathered force. "We're going to scout ahead, but be ready to back us up." One by one, they entered the building. The main entrance was clear of enemies, which surprised them.

"I don't like this," Shara said, as the entered a narrow hallway. After clearing several more passages, they came to a T intersection. Expecting the hall to be clear again, Drake and Kirk stepped out. A search light quickly lit up on the right side, and for a brief moment, blinded them. This allowed 2 hydra splatlings that had been mounted on a barricade, to start charging. As the hydras began to unload, Drake dove behind a pillar, but Kirk wasn't fast enough.

"KIRK!" Callie screamed. She quickly grabbed him, and pulled Kirk back behind the wall, but he had already been hit in the chest by 7 pellets.

"Ack! AGH IT HURTS!" Kirk yelled, as he was laid down. He started coughing violently.

"Sonovabitch! Otome, Cover me!" Drake said. He fired his rifle at the searchlight, causing it to shatter. As the hydras started unloading on Drake, Otome popped out, and lobbed a splat bomb over the barricade. The bomb exploded, and both hydra gunners were incapacitated. She could hear them groan in pain.

"Damn it! Why isn't the Squee-G working!" Levin shouted, as Drake and Otome returned.

"He's in real bad shape. Levin, I need you and Shara to go back and find someone with a de-splatting kit!" Marie said.

"But-"

"Just Go! Kirk doesn't have long!" The two jumped up, and ran back to the entrance.

"M-Marie? W-why can't I see anything? It's dark, and it h-hurts?" Kirk said, fighting the pain.

"Just relax, Kirk. Help is on the way," Marie said, as gently as she could to keep him calm.

"Kirk, you have to hang on!" Callie said, fighting back tears.

"I.. I think I'm dying..." Kirk said.

"No you aren't!" Callie said. At that moment, Levin and Shara returned, and an army medic was right behind them. He quickly set up the de-splatting kit. The pained look on Kirk's face became relaxed, but he wasn't getting any better.

"Why isn't it working?" Callie yelled.

"I'm doing the best I can," The medic responded.

"I... I'm not gonna..."

"YES YOU ARE," Levin yelled.

"Find... Neptune... Find her..."

"You can find her yourself," Shara responded.

"I.. I never got... I never got to tell her..." Kirk's head dropped down, and his limbs stopped moving. The army medic checked for breathing, but then shook his head.

"No... DAMN IT!" Marie cursed, and banged her fist into the wall. Callie Started sobbing, and Drake held her close. Otome offered the same prayer she gave to her fallen teammates. Everyone else just looked away. "Damn it... that boy was only fifteen and had so much potential. I'm sorry, Kirk. I failed you."

After a while, Drake and Otome turned towards the hall with the broken barricade. "We're.. uh, we are going to continue on. You can catch up to us later."

"No, you aren't," Marie said, and tried to regain her composure. "Not with out us. We're going to finish this for him." Leaving Kirk's body behind, they followed the now empty hallway. After a few more minutes, they spotted something.

"Wait, is that who I think it is?" Levin said. At the end of the next hall, they saw a familiar pink Inkling. Levin started moving in, but Shara grabbed his hand.

"Wait, something is wrong." As they cautiously approached, they noticed that she was walking very sluggishly. Then, they noticed the pair of Octoling Goggles.

"Wait, we stopped Octavio's music. Why is she still being controlled?" Otome asked. Neptune eventually caught sight of the group. Her movements rapidly increased, and she started charging at her friends. She began firing shots from her gal, which forced the agents to retreat a bit.

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Levin said.

"It's the goggles." Otome responded. "We need to get them off her."

"How? This corridor is too narrow to be able to get around her," Shara said.

"I have an idea. I'm going to charge her down, but I need you to stay right behind me. Can you do that?" Drake asked. Shara nodded in response. The two took off running, and Neptune started shooting at Drake. Taking hit after hit, Drake started slowing down, until he finally collapsed in front of Neptune. He had, however, gotten close enough for Shara to leap up from behind him, and Tackle Neptune. As Callie quickly caught up and started running a Squee-G on him, Drake watched Shara grapple with Neptune.

"Damn it! Hurry up and come off already!" Shara said, as she tried to remove the goggles from Neptune's face. Neptune recovered from the shock, and landed a punch on Shara's face. She recoiled, but continued pulling. As Neptune prepared another punch, Shara finally pulled the goggles off, and Neptune went limp. Before tossing them aside, Shara took a quick look at the goggles, and saw that a recording of Octavio's music was playing through a small amplifier.

"Ughhh..." Neptune moaned. "Now... I know what a zombie... in all those horror movies feels like." Neptune looked around, and saw that her former teammates had gathered around her. "Took you... long enough. You guys wanna-" Neptune was cut off, as a splattershot pro barrel was shoved in her face.

**A/N: User OCs for this chapter:**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Iris – Luna – Splatoon amino**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: User OCs for this chapter:
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Jade – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Iris – Luna – Splatoon amino


	33. 3.11 – The Finale.

"You wanna get that out of my face, Shara?" After having the Octoling goggles forcefully removed from her head, Neptune had been staring at the business end of Shara's weapon for several heated seconds. Since Shara didn't reply, Neptune tried to sit up, but Shara pushed her back down.

"...A reason..." Shara said.

"Shara, I'm always up for rough play, but this isn't the t-"

"I SAID GIVE ME A REASON!" Shara roared, and pressed the end of the barrel to Neptune's face. "You're a traitor! Just because you had a change of heart and left that video, doesn't mean that you didn't betray us!"

"If that's what you think, then I guess I'm a better actress than I thought. Still, I would think that a 'thank you' would be a little more appropriate."

"A thank you? YOU SHOT ME! And now you expect us to just pretend like nothing happened?"

"Well, I had to put on a show for them. Why do you think I only shot you once in the butt, instead of the head or chest?"

"But what made you so sure we would find her?" Levin asked. "They could have died if we hadn't found them in time."

"You intentionally let me call them over the communicator, didn't you?" Marie said with an understanding face. "A calculated risk. I didn't think you were the type to think like that."

"Finally, someone gets it. Now, how about getting offa me? Or do I have to explain all the information that was leaked to you?" Neptune was starting to get impatient.

"That's a load of sharkshit! We already know that it was Jack that leaked everything until you sent the distress signal," Shara responded.

"And where do you think Jack got my phone? Who do you think intentionally let him pickpocket it? Why do you think I waited as long as possible, before taking it back?"

"She has a point. Isn't it time we stopped this and become friends again?" Callie asked with a pleading expression.

"Just one more question," Drake said, and looked directly into Neptune's eyes. "Why did you attack the Eden facility?"

"Oh, that's easy," Neptune responded. "After seeing you survive things that would kill any other inklings, and after visiting your base, I know that you would be able to fight off one of Gull's attacks. As for why, It seemed like the perfect way to get rid of Gull, while showing you just how serious these guys are."

"So that was meant as a wake up call? Wow, our little trickster is quite the strategist," Drake said.

"Hard to believe this is the same girl that drew on my face. It gives me a migraine just thinking about it," Otome said, who looked like she was ready to give up on life.

"And I'll be happy to do that again," Neptune said with a smirk. "But first, can I get up now?" Having nothing else to add, Shara just stared at Neptune. Her mind was fighting a battle with itself on weather or not to trust her, when Levin finally stepped up.

"Shara, I think she's telling the truth. She might have played both sides, but if not for her, than we wouldn't even have known about the attacks. Let's give her another chance." Shara looked at him for several seconds, before finally relaxing her expression. She lowered her weapon, and stood up.

"Wow, I expect big brother to be the whipped one, not the tiger shark," Neptune said, as she got up. Levin covered Shara's mouth before another fight could start. "Anyways, where's Kirk? I would have expected him to come riding in on a white seahorse to rescue me." The others all looked away with pained expressions.

"...dead.." Shara muttered.

"You should fix that mumbling habit," Neptune responded.

"I said HE'S DEAD! Get it yet? Died because all he cared about was rescuing your worthless ass, you stupid sea slug!" Shara screamed.

"D-dead? Y-you're kidding. If this is some sort of revenge scheme.. then that's just..." Neptune stopped, when she noticed the expressions on everybody's face. Neptune's face drained, and she turned towards the hall way that the team had come from.

"Neptune, wait!" Marie yelled, as Neptune took off running. The rest of the team pursued her passed the broken barricade, and back to the entrance. She finally stopped running, when she saw the army medic. He was wrapping Kirk's body in a protective cloth, that was designed to keep the body from dissolving long enough for services to be held. She rushed up to the body and looked at Kirk's head, which was still exposed.

"No... NO! KIRK!" Neptune took several steps backwards, before vomiting violently. She then fell backwards, and collapsed on the ground. "This isn't real... This isn't happening..." Neptune sobbed several times, before breaking out into full blown crying. Callie, who had also started crying again, embraced Neptune from behind. The rest of the team fought back their own tears, and Shara was deeply regretting the things she said. Even Otome was heartbroken after seeing the side of Neptune that, until now, had eluded them.

"I'm so sorry, Neptune," Marie said, and placed her hand on Neptune's shoulder. "I should have looked out for him better."

"I'm going to make him pay," Neptune said, when she finally stopped crying. "The chairman... he has to die for this."

"Just who is this chairman?" Marie asked. "Chairman of what?" With out answering, Neptune started running in the direction they had come from. As the squad chased after her, Otome received a call on her communicator.

"Otome? Otome, Can you still hear me?" Kiril said.

"I'm a little busy here, old friend," Otome responded, as they chased after Neptune.

"This is important! I just received word that Major Octarias and his commandos have entered the building from the left side. They're after the leader of The Chaos, and we think they might kill him on sight."

"So? I missed the part where I'm supposed to care. He should die," Otome said.

"LISTEN!" Kiril yelled, which surprised Otome. "After watching that recording again, Cuttlefish thinks that this 'chairman' guy and Octavio were working with a third person. If Octarias kills him, we might lose our only lead to who this last conspirator is. I tried raising him, but I'm not getting a response. You have to get to the chairman before Octarias does!"

"I'll take that under advisement. Otome out," she said, and turned off the communicator. When they finally caught up to Neptune, they had entered the large hanger that was used to store the Octobot, as well as a number of assault platforms. In the center of the room, a male Octoling was tied to a large pillar. Also tied to the pillar on opposite sides, were two Octarians, and one Inkling female. The Octoling looked like he was trying to say something, and they approached cautiously. As soon as they reached him, the doors on the right and left sides of the room opened simultaneously. Coming from the right, was the rest of the humans and several Inklings, including Jack. On the left, Octarias, his twin body guards and the rest of the commandos had entered the room.

"I should have expected my fiance to be leading the charge into enemy territory," Octarias said, as they approached. "What do you got for me?"

"Octarias, we've been over the whole fiance thing," Otome responded.

"You just don't learn, do you?" Typhoon said.

"Not now, Typhoon," Octarias barked, which shut her up.

"And this guy is Matthew from the science division," Otome continued. "We WERE going to help him, when everyone decided to barge in." As they argued, Marie removed the gag from Matthew's face. He coughed a few times, as Otome cut the Inkling free of the binds.

"DAD!" The Inkling said, as she immediately rushed to Matthew's side. "Thank goodness you're okay!"

"Wait... dad?" Otome gave Matthew a confused look, and she wasn't the only one.

"Obviously, I'm not her real dad," Matthew replied. "She fell into Octoburg as a child, and I've been taking care of her, ever sense. Her name is Lucy."

"Thank you for saving us," Lucy said with a bow.

"Putting aside your questionable relationship, why is a highly respected scientist in the middle of a Chaos base?" Octarias asked.

"They were forcing me to work on Octavio's Octobot. I couldn't refuse.. because..." Matthew glanced at Lucy. "Anyway, once the battle started, they decided to tie us up here, and-"

"And use you as bait," a voice said, from the catwalk above. Ink started flying from Chaos fighters that were hiding on the floor above, and the the two Octarian scientists that were still tied up were executed on the spot. The Inklings and Octolings took cover, as the humans turned to return fire. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and Drake stumbled backwards. Another bang, and fresh blood flew from the front and back of his chest.

"DRAKE!" Callie screamed, and rushed to his side as he fell. "He... he's.. somebody help him!" As the rest of the humans took cover, Justin pushed passed, and pulled Drake behind a crate. The humans and Oceanics tried to return fire, but the height difference gave the Chaos the advantage, and they were having trouble getting shots lined up.

"Tell me he's going to be okay!" Otome said, as she lobbed a bomb to the upper cat walk.

"The body armor stopped the first shot, but the second one went straight through," Justin responded, and injected Drake with a pain killer.

"JUST TELL ME HE WILL BE OKAY!"

"It's not good, but he'll live. He's lucky the bullet missed his heart. I just need you guys to cover me while I stop the bleeding."

"Who... the hell... fired the shot?" Drake asked, wincing as he waited for the pain killer to kick in.

"It's that damn chairman," Jack said. "He's got my revolver."

"Does anyone know who this guy is?" Shara said, as she splatted an Octoling.

"He's Chairman Azula Torrent of your Tentatek Corporation," Octarias answered. "Pretty resourceful and charismatic guy, if our information is correct."

"How the hell do yah know that?" Levin asked.

"We are commandos, you dunce!" Typhoon yelled.

"Though, I hear his plan was a little... unhinged, to say the least," Octarias said.

"That isn't all of it," Matthew said. "Those two scientists they just killed... they were forced to build an ink strike missile. And not just any missile. The thing is large enough to wipe out half a city block."

"Great, an ink version of the V2 rocket. What's next, an ink nuke?" Brandon said, as he reloaded his rifle.

"Well, it won't matter for long. The chairman has a date with the backside of my Octoshot," Otome hissed.

"Yeah, well not if I get there first," Neptune said. They were about to make a run for the stairs, when Drake spoke up between coughs.

"W.. wait. Jack, that.. revolver. Was it a six shooter?"

"If by that, you mean holding six bullets, then yes."

"And does he have... spare bullets?"

"Not that I know of. I got plenty at home, but thankfully, I didn't pack any extra that day."

"T-then he should.. only have four.. shots left. Otome... It might be.. time to use.. the gift I gave you," Drake said. Otome reached down, and felt the handgun that he had given her for her birthday. It was still attached to her waist.

"Right. Drake, don't you dare die on me. Callie, Take care of him for me."

"I will. In return, give that jerk chairman a beating for me!" Otome and Neptune made a run for the staircase, while Levin and Shara followed close behind.

"All humans! Covering fire!" Brandon yelled.

"Commando team! Engage the enemy!" Octarias commanded.

"Yes sir! All units, on me!" Vortex yelled. As the humans provided cover, the commandos broke formation, and started engaging Chaos fighters at close range. One by one they started dropping from the catwalks. This allowed Otome, and the three squids to reach the staircase. Seeing this, the chairman fled down a narrow hall and into another room. As they climbed the stairs, they saw an Octosniper pick off one of the commandos, and he fell into a pool of purple ink. After climbing the stairs, the 4 immediately jumped behind an overturned table, as several Chaos inklings turned their weapons on them.

"Ugh, we don't have time for this!" Otome growled.

"We have to get to Chairman Torrent, or who knows what will happen. Neptune, Otome. Levin and I will hold them back. You two go after the chairman," Shara said.

"That's crazy! You two can't-"

"Just go!" Levin yelled. He fired an ink ball from his ranged blaster, and hit a Sploosh user in the head. He rolled backwards, and fell over the railing. "We can take em. Neptune knows what's up!" Neptune grabbed Otome's hand, and pulled her towards the hall that the chairman had escaped to. Otome looked back once, than followed her at full speed.

"Well, I hate to say it, but we might have screwed up," Shara said, as Inklings started moving towards them. The commandos and humans on the ground were pushing them back, and the remaining Chaos inklings were trying to regroup.

"We got this. Nothing can ever come between us!" Levin said, blasting another target.

"Y-you dork! Not in the middle of a fight!"

Otome was following Neptune up a flight of stairs. She had to admire Neptune, as she was determined to reach Azula, despite being weakened from the ordeal she had been put through. Even if revenge for Kirk was her motivation. As they finished climbing the stairs, they took cover on the sides of the door that lead into the next room. "There he is!" Neptune hissed. On the far side of a large control room, Azula was using one of the terminals, while at the same time, trying to establish a video call on a smaller laptop. Passed the windows, they could see the large missile in the next hanger.

"No! Why can't I get a connection! You promised me that you would send help!" Azula yelled, as the laptop displayed an error. "This wasn't the deal!" The laptop displayed the same error after another failed attempt. "Fine, but my dream won't die that easy." He turned his attention away from the laptop, and back to the terminal. "Just gotta set the coordinates and-"

"And surrender if you know what's good for you!" Otome yelled. Surprised, Azula whipped around, and fired a shot from the revolver, then ducked behind a map table. Otome fired two shots from her own handgun, as he took cover. "That's one."

"We can't hit him from here!" Neptune said.

"Be ready to move in to that first row of computers. I'll tell you when," Otome said, and Neptune nodded.

"Just don't get me killed, and I'll do the rest."

"You can't win, Chairman Torrent!" Otome yelled. "Most of your forces are dead or captured, and we have Octavio! What do you think a single missile will accomplish?"

"I would have thought it was obvious," Azula responded. "If I drop the missile right on top of the Inkling parliament, I'll destabilize the whole city! If my partner still has half a brain, he can easily use that to carry out our original plan. Not that you can do anything to stop me!" Azula fired a shot at Otome, and she fired two shots back.

"That's two. Wait for him to fire one more, Neptune," Otome said. Azula started moving back to the launch control terminal.

"Well, at least your partner has a brain! Oh, and your face looks like it was remixed by Octavio!" Neptune yelled out. Azula fired a shot at them in irritation.

"Why did I expect any different from you? That's three. Go!" Neptune ran out from the side of the door frame, and switch to her squid form to slide behind a console that was next to the door. Otome stepped out and fired three more shots to cover her. The chairman ducked down and fired at Otome. The bullet grazed her shoulder, which caused her to wince in pain. Neptune took the opening to rise up, and fired several pellets with her gal. The shots missed Azula, but they hit the terminal behind him, causing it to short circuit and shut down.

"NO! You fools! What have you done!" Azula yelled. Otome stepped out, and pointed her handgun at him.

"You're out of options, Torrent. It's time for you to own up to what you did."

"There's always another option. The plan may be ruined, but I choose to go down fighting!" Azula pulled the trigger of the revolver, but all he heard was 'click'. "What?!"

"Sorry, but you only get six shots with that. You might have known that if you had tried talking to my friends instead of killing them." Otome pulled the trigger, and fired her last bullet into Azula's leg. As he fell backwards, Neptune fired another pellet at his other leg. He was now immobilized, and in a lot of pain. Otome reloaded the handgun the way Drake had showed her.

"So that's it, huh? All of our plans are ruined, and now you expect me to beg for my life?" Azula said, as he glared at the two girls standing in front of him.

"No, I expect you to die. One of my friends is dead because of you!" Neptune hissed. She raised her weapon, but Otome held her back.

"Maybe now would be a good time to tell me the name of your partner. As you can see, Neptune here won't make what's left of your life very pleasant if you hold out on us."

"I'm afraid you're about out of luck as I am. He always used an alias during our calls, and he scrambled the signal to hide his voice and face. Obviously, I never met him in person, either. All I know, is that he is Octarian. Oh, and don't bother questioning Octavio. He knows as much as I do."

"You're being rather cooperative all of a sudden. Feeling regretful?" Otome asked.

"I regret nothing! I'm only telling you because it no longer matters. But even if my dream dies, my partner will come out of the shadows at some point."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," A voice said from behind. The chairman's eyes went wide, as a seeker came flying down between the two girls. It hit him square in the chest, and Chairman Azula Torrent fell dead.

"Octarias?! WHAT THE HELL? He could have still told us more!" Otome said, as Octarias entered the room with his body guards.

"And he was mine, you jerkface!" Neptune added.

"That's it! I can only tolerate your disrespect so much!" Typhoon said, as she raised her Octobrush.

"While your vigor is something I always appreciated, you need to let me worry about this, Otome," Octarias said.

"You show up late, take all the credit, then you blow us off? Really, guy?" Neptune said.

"One thing we know about the chairman, is that he was a very cautious man," Vortex said, as he helped hold Typhoon back. "He most likely kept all his conversations recorded on his computer. If we take that laptop with us, the guys at the science division can probably figure out a way to dig out the identity of his partner.

"And I'm taking jurisdiction over this. We'll fill you in when we have more information, but until then, keep your noses out of this. I don't want to risk tipping him off," Octarias said. Vortex went over to retrieve the laptop, then the five of them left the room. As they returned to the room that the rest of The Chaos had made their last stand in, they saw that Levin and Shara were cleaning themselves off with Squee-Gs. Shara was resting her head on Levin's shoulder.

"Oh, glad to see you two made it. Now you can give me all the juicy details on your escapades!" Neptune said, which made them both groan. Otome rolled her eyes, and followed Octarias back to the lower level. The last remaining Chaos fighters had been routed, and a few were taken prisoner. Drake was sitting on one of the crates, after being heavily bandaged by Justin. Octarias was about to leave, when he stopped and turned around.

"Oh, by the way, Otome. Now that this mess is cleared up, I think it's time we talked about us. Octoburg is safe, and there is no reason for you to distract yourself anymore."

"You just don't get it, do you? Even if my job is done, that doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to change my mind and fall in love with you. In fact, I have someone else." Otome walked over to where Drake was. As he turned towards her, Otome leaned in very close, and whispered something in his ear. Then, she made a kissing motion with her lips less than an inch from Drake, and he made similar gesture with his. Though, at his angle, Octarias couldn't see that they hadn't actually made contact.

"Y-you're disgusting!" Typhoon yelled.

"Well this is quite a spectacle. I can't say I approve, but I guess you are going to rebel until the end. When society rejects you and chews you out, I'll be waiting," Octarias said, and left the hanger.

"You could have had everything, and you just had to throw it away," Typhoon said. "I'll never understand you."

"Well, if you want Octarias so much, why don't you go get him for yourself? I'm not standing in your way," Otome responded. Typhoon gave her a look of shock and irritation, while Vortex stood between them.

"That's enough! I swear, you two are worse than the landsharks. Typhoon, we need to get this evidence back to Octoburg, so show some professionalism!" Vortex moved to catch up with Octarias. Typhoon gave Otome a 'this isn't over' look, than joined her brother.

Well," Marie said, after witnessing that outlandish event. "We've had a hard fight. I think it's time we head back to fort Omega, and check in at the medical tent."

…

An hour later, Levin was looking around the large pavilion that had been set up to treat the wounded. Having spotted the person he was looking for, he walked over to a light blue Inkling that was lying on a stretcher. "You know, after what Citra told me, you're pretty damn lucky."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Frost responded, and coughed. "I should have died with Sandy. No, Sandy should have been the one to survive. But just because I was an inch further away from that ink strike... well, that's not something that's going to be easy to live with."

"Yeah, she was one of the few girls that would put up with your crap, wasn't she."

"Pretty much. And now I'm alone again," Frost said.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Dude. Citra has been worried sick about you. Bass too. You want my advice, you should apologize to them. I think Citra might even like you."

"Very funny, Levin. But I guess I should talk to Citra. Bass knows where he can stick it, though." The two shared a laugh, which caused Frost to cough again. "I heard you lost one of your friends too."

"Yeah... which is why I know how you feel right now."

"It wasn't just you," A voice from behind said. It was Karumi from the Mariners. "We lost over fifty regulars, and almost seventy Octolings, including Olaf and Osami. I just hope it was worth it," she said, before walking over to where the wounded Otoha was resting.

"Levin... sorry I've been such a shitty friend. I was an idiot." Frost said, as he turned back to Levin.

"Well, we got time to fix that. And you should try to accept Otome and the Octarians."

"Yeah, right. I have a better chance of asking Marie out," Levin laughed and shook his head. "Speaking of asking out, you need to tell me how you tamed the tiger shark." This was going to be an even longer day.

On the other side of the medical tent, Drake was sitting in the corner, while waiting for Otome to get checked out. After a few minutes, she walked over, and sat down next to him. "Everything alright?" Drake asked.

"The scratch that bullet gave me has already healed up. Other than that, I'm fine," Otome responded. They sat in silence for a few more minutes. "S-so thanks for that. T-the thing with Octarias, I mean."

"No problem. I didn't expect to have that trick come up again so soon, though," Drake said. Silence resumed.

"H-hey, Drake. Y-you had a sister, right? I-I didn't want to bring this up until the fight was over, b-but what happened to her?" Drake gave her a shocked look.

"Where did you hear about that?"

"C-Callie told me. About that night..." Otome said. Drake sighed, and breathed in.

"I guess I shouldn't hide it. She... didn't actually die in the flood. It happened right after I graduated high school. Alice was six years younger than me, and was the best little sister you could ask for. Unlike most shitbird middle schoolers. As for me, I was expected to live up to my genius of a father. The problem is, I don't really have any talent, besides shooting. My dad was okay with that, but our bitch of a mother couldn't stand the thought of the first born son being painfully average, and was putting me in a lot of stress."

"A-are you okay? Maybe I shouldn't have asked," Otome said, with a look of concern.

"I'm fine. Anyway, I was on my way to meet with father, and Alice was tailing me. I was really tired that day, so I told her to go home, and that I would play with her when I got back. I didn't say it in a mean way, but she gave me a disappointed look that still haunts me. She started to cross the street, but then this car comes flying out of nowhere, and runs her down. Doesn't even stop to help, either. Typical hit and run. She died on the spot."

"That... is so awful. I can't imagine what that was like. If I had lost Yako like that..."

"The only thing that kept me from becoming suicidal, was Hannah. Told me to find a new reason to live, and that she would never forgive me if I took my own life." Drake sighed. "So there you have it. I couldn't protect Alice, I couldn't protect Hannah, and I almost killed you. I assume Callie told you that I rejected her, so that's why. She needs someone who can always keep her safe. Especially since society would never accept a human dating an Inkling celebrity."

"Drake, you need to stop that," Otome said with a stern voice. "I hate seeing you talk like that. You saved me several times, and what happened to them wasn't your fault. Besides, you said Callie needs to be protected? Well, what about someone who wants to protect you, the same way you protected her?"

"Otome, what are you-" Drake was cut off, as Otome pressed her face to his. Unlike before, the kiss was genuine, and their lips did meet. Shocked by the sudden move and unfamiliar sensation, Drake froze up for a second, but his expression quickly relaxed, and he accepted the Octoling's gesture. After several more seconds, they parted.

"You've been one of my best friends and a trusted partner. But... I can't set aside my feelings anymore. I don't care what others think, I love you. I've loved you for a while now. I even gave you my first kiss."

"I guess I can't lie to myself anymore. A part of me regrets rejecting Callie, and I do deeply care for her, but ever since that night, I've been forced to think about my own feelings, and I always get the same answer. I love you too, Otome." Drake reached to the back of her head, and pulled her into another kiss. One of her front tentacles brushed against the side of his head, as he returned the affection that Otome had showed him. After a while, they parted again, then just held each other. Though, they were unaware that they were being watched from another part of the room.

"They really do make a cute couple," Callie said, as she watched them cuddle.

"But are you sure about this?" Marie responded. "Even though you two decided to be like family, I know that you still have feelings for him."

"You really know me well, cousin. But is it not a form of love to wish for the happiness of the person you love, as well as your close friends?" Callie said. Marie gave her a stunned look.

"Since when did you get so mature?"

"Hey! I am an adult, you know!" Callie turned back to watching the two hug. "I will of course support them as best I can, but if something does happen and they break up, I will be sure to be the first one to lend him a shoulder to cry on."

"I take back what I said. And isn't being devious MY job?"

…

Expeditionary log of Drake Von Kaufmann. Final Entry...

It's been a month since the battle with the forces that called themselves 'The Chaos', and preventing the second great turf war. Things have settled down a bit, but there have been a lot of changes for all races.

For starters, both the Inklings and Octarians have finally started closing the old wounds of the first great turf war. All the conditions of the peace treaty have been upheld, and now they are interacting with each other on a scale that was previously unheard of. Though, the Inklings chancellor is still dragging his feet, and restricting travel. The Octarians have been a lot more welcoming of us than the Inkling government is, and frequently visit us. Personal note: I will never forget the time Manfred gave Emperor Octurus a tour of the base. I have never seen the man sweat so much, and I loved every minute of it.

As for us, we finally finished rescuing all the humans that were in cryosleep at the Technodyne facility (Video log for this is attached for later viewing). I had my doubts about this, as we found out that the director was initially only offering pods to the super rich. Fortunately, the lower employees and security force rebelled, and stripped her of her position (we found her skeleton chained to a wall on a later visit). After that, they opened their doors, and started saving as many people as they could before the flood hit.

Anyway, after the deaths of Mclarrin, Niwa and Keagan, we went from having a mere 67, to having almost 500 of us. We might actually have a chance of returning from extinction. But the base won't support this many people. We've started building housing and farms on the surface to accommodate the new arrivals. We also formed an official state, and are now known as the Eden Colonial State, or E.C.S. Though, we still haven't set up any form of government, and Manfred is still running the show. We are actively setting up our own treaties with Inkopolis and Octoburg. This has been going smoothly, despite the chancellors best efforts to "play it safe".

Instead of being reinstated as head of security, I was given the rank of Captain, and put in charge of leading the new defense force. Brandon is my second in command, and Reggie, Matt, Justin and Takeshi, are still in my squad. I just hope we never have to fight our new neighbors.

The final part of this entry, will be updates on all the people I've come to know during my time in the new world.

Levin and Shara are still in the new Squidbeak group, and still work for Cuttlefish. Though, I will be interested in seeing how they manage their time when school starts. Their relationship does get rocky at times, but they are still quite the happy couple. I still hang out with them, along with Neptune when visiting Inkopolis.

Neptune has been slowly returning to her former self, after Kirk's death. She visits his memorial on a daily basis. Something that his family is grateful for. Despite her experiences, she is still the same prankster as ever. We all thought she had a crush on Kirk, and were worried that she would never be the same.

Otome was promoted to Lieutenant, and is now the official leader of her squad.

Kelly had returned to Ceph for a short time, intending on living by herself. Otome would have none of it, and dragged her back with her. Despite Kelly feeling guilty about what happened, the two made up rather quickly. She was promoted to Captain on returning to Octoburg, and has taken over Ophelia's old post.

Yako, by some serious error, was promoted to Corporal. Though, she did calm down a bit, last time I saw her. She still likes getting her head rubbed.

Briki is now living with her sister in Inkopolis, and is on permanent leave since she fulfilled her deal with Octarias. She often joins Sarheart for turf wars.

Tanner was reinstated to the Octarian science division. He still hasn't dropped his bad habits, and is now hitting on our own women when ever he visits the E.C.S.

Matthew returned to Octoburg with Lucy. The two took a long vacation to Inkopolis, before he returned to his work.

Frost apologized to Bass and Citra, and they are working on rebuilding their team. Though, Levin said they are still down a member. Citra is still a little shy, but her friendship with Otome gave her a lot of confidence in herself. Bass is still as loud as ever.

Jack changed a lot after the battle. The good news is he takes his work a lot more seriously, but at the same time, he is rather closed off to people these days. I bumped into him once, and he said he was thinking about joining Squidbeak.

Starheart was promoted to Captain, and is one of the youngest Inklings to ever hold that rank. I hear she has been fighting with her superiors to keep Cuttlefish in the loop of things.

Iris is still working with the kids at Camp Triggerfish. There's a poll going on about her past, but I doubt we will have the answer to that any time soon.

I only spoke to Octurus once, since the incident. Thankfully, I didn't have to shake hands. He seems to want another chess match, but I think I can get away with putting that off for a while.

Octarias still hasn't found the identity of the third conspirator, but he assures us he is working on it. Though, it seems he still has an interest in Otome. Vortex and Typhoon still loyally stay at his side.

Octavio was arrested, and was transferred to maximum security prison. Good to know, though I hear Neptune visits him just to taunt him. Cuttlefish sometimes visits him.

Old man Cuttlefish still leads the Squidbeak agents. It's probably good that nothing has been going on, because that can't be good for his health at that age.

Annie has been doing good in her business lately. Now that Tentatek is under new management, she has been getting a lot of new designs. She is still as shy as ever, and I don't believe she ever confessed to who ever it was she liked. Moe is still an ass.

Sheldon has been working on several projects with my father, Manfred. I'm interested in seeing what kind of technology those two come up with. I get the feeling that blending human and Inkling weapons will be first on the list.

Callie and Marie frequently visit the E.C.S. whenever they have time off. Since we all consider each other family, we tend to spend a lot of time together. Though, Callie will often question me about Otome. I don't know where I would be, if not for those two. I truly consider myself fortunate to have them as close friends.

Judd sometimes joins the squid sisters in their visits. I doubt anyone will get used to a 2,000 year old telepathic cat, but he seems happy to see his old family.

This ends the final entry of my expeditionary journal. Drake Von Kaufmann, signing off.

"There I think that will do it," Drake said, as he finished typing the last entry.

"About time you finished. We're gonna be late for our double date with Shara and Levin."

"Sorry, sorry. Just doing my job," Drake responded. "I'm surprised you agreed to this idea of Callie's, though."

"I trust Callie. I mean, she's done a lot for us, and we're going to hang out with her, after the date."

"And to think I had to lecture you about giving her a chance."

"Oh! Why'd you have to go and bring that up! I-" Drake's girlfriend was cut off, as he pulled her into a surprise kiss. She giggled a little, and they cuddled for a few minutes. "Smart ass. You're lucky I love you as much as I do."

"Add that to the fact that I've survived things that should have killed me.. well, I know just how lucky I am. I wouldn't trade this world for anything. Let's go, Otome." Hand in hand, the two left the E.C.S. base, and headed to the Inkling capital. For them, the once dark future looked colorful.

**Authors notes: Welp, I kept my word and finished before the switch release. Hope you all enjoyed The Legacy of Humanity. Be sure to let me know what you thought about it. Thanks to all those who read and left feedback, and thanks to my teammates, the Inkvaders.**

**The Legacy of Humanity was written by Drew Larsen. Cover art by IV Luna.**

**Full list of reader OCs. Sorry again to those that I had to drop.**

**Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino**

**Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net**

**Jade/Pearl/Vortex/Typhoon – Game Nation – Fanfiction net**

**Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino**

**Iris – Luna – Splatoon amino**

**Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad**

**Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino**

**Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino**

**Matthew/Lucy – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors notes: Welp, I kept my word and finished before the switch release. Hope you all enjoyed The Legacy of Humanity. Be sure to let me know what you thought about it. Now, the main story is done, but I do have one more thing coming, and that's why I haven't marked it complete yet. Keep a look out for that. Anyway, Thanks to all those who read and left feedback, and thanks to my teammates, the Inkvaders.
> 
> The Legacy of Humanity was written by Drew Larsen. Cover art by IV Luna.
> 
> Full list of reader OCs. Sorry again to those that I had to drop.
> 
> Briki – Briki – Splatoon amino
> 
> Tanner – write n wrong - fanfiction net
> 
> Jade/Pearl/Vortex/Typhoon – Game Nation – Fanfiction net
> 
> Starheart – *Starheart – Splatoon amino
> 
> Iris – Luna – Splatoon amino
> 
> Mako – Persevered4746 – Wattpad
> 
> Jack – Yzor – Splatoon amino
> 
> Owen – Jewelfire – Splatoon amino
> 
> Matthew/Lucy – Pokemontrainer470 – fanfiction net


	34. Final Side – After Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Notes: These 2 stories were made from some ideas pitched to me. The second story was mostly co-written with wattpad user ZACHSMITHYAY. He wrote the base story, while I edited and added the intro/end, as well as the dialogue. Though, I did have to drop some. I also tried something different with the language barrier. Sorry about this taking longer than it should have. Blame Walmart for not holding up their promise of delivering my switch on launch. After all, having a console release on my birthday was totally not half the reason I bought it day one in the first place. So what did we learn? Never buy from Walmart unless you literally have no choice. Rant over.

**1 – Awakening**

It had been a few days since The Chaos had been stopped. A new age has begun for both human kind, and the Oceanics. For the people of Eden, however, there was still work to be done. For today, the humans and a number of volunteer Oceanics, were evacuating the 400 survivors from the underwater Technodyne facility.

"It's a good thing Marco and Hiragi got the other mini sub working," Drake said, as his team walked down the metal hallways. "Otherwise, this would be taking a lot longer.

"Don't forget the other two mini subs that we liberated from The Chaos. But even with four, this is still taking quite a lot longer than we thought," Brandon responded, and they reached the large room that housed the legion of cryopods.

"I just wish we still had the Akula sub," Reggie said.

"Not like that huge thing would fit in the docking lock," Takeshi added.

"Wait, what? Takeshi made a reasonable observation?" Matt said, giving him a stunned look.

Several technicians and security officers walked around the room, as each functioning cryopod was opened, other people escorted the cryo humans away. Several submarines were parked at the entrance of the base. Besides the humans and Drakes team, there were also a few other Inklings and Octolings there that had offered to help. Most of them had fought against The Chaos, and were here to return the favor.

"I honestly didn't expect there to be so many kids and younger people. In fact, I would have thought them to mostly be scientists and rich people," Reggie said. While there were many Technodyne scientists and workers in the pods, there were also a lot of civilians from different classes and backgrounds. Some of the people inside of them seemed to make up entire families.

"I'm just glad we're almost done. This has been almost as tiring as that battle, despite being bored out of my mind," Matt complained.

"It wouldn't be so bad, if they were using the final version of the pods," Justin chimed in. "Honestly, so many of these people are incredibly weak." He had been working with nurse Rotama to stabilize the people coming out of cryosleep. As they finished with the current batch, he and some of the technicians started opening the last of the cryopods, while Drake's team stood guard.

One functioning cryopod contained a boy, probably somewhere around 12, that had a backpack with him. Justin lifted him from the pod, and laid him on a stretcher. Then he laid a blanket on him, before moving him away to the other side of the room. He was still peacefully sleeping. Levin, who was one of the Inklings that volunteered to help, took the backpack and opened it to check for anything the Drake's team should be aware of. Inside was some family pictures and other possessions. "Huh? The heck is this?" Levin said. Inside the backpack, there was also what looked like a video game console. It was a handheld that had two controllers on the sides, one red, one blue. "Is this a game player? I'm so gonna check this out." Frost and Bass came over to see what the fuss was about.

"Levin, quit screwing around! We still have more humans coming out!" Shara said. Levin quickly put the game player back in the backpack. Meanwhile, the boy began to open his eyes. He was in a bed of sorts, and could hear talking. He looked over at his side, and saw other sleeping people on stretchers, including his mom and dad. Shocked, he then looked forward, while making sure he still looked like he was sleeping. From above his knees, he could see humans, but what else he saw frightened him.

"W-what? Who?... What are they..?" He quietly said to himself. There were also human-like creatures, but they had tentacles on their heads, rather than hair. Some had 2, others had 4. Their eyes were different vibrant colors, though some of the creatures had black goggles around them. They were also armed with bizarre looking guns that resembled his own water gun that he played with, but instead of water, they looked like they were filled with colored liquids. However, the humans and creatures were communicating with each other and chatting, while they opened more cryopods. He was able to understand a few of them, but the rest just sounded like gibberish.

"They... have such big ears." He noticed that the few creatures that he could understand, wore a microphone like device on their large pointed hears. Most of the humans appeared to also be wearing the devices.

"Otome, how are things on your end?" One of the armored humans said.

"We dropped them off at the cafeteria like you asked, Drake. Tanner says we can start loading the next group anytime." The 4 tentacled creature called Otome responded.

"That's good. I think this is the last group," Drake said, and he drew closer to the one called Otome. "Thanks again for offering to help."

"O-of course, Drake. You know I would do anything to help you and your people." The two shared a hug, which surprised the boy. His eyes opened a little wider than he had intended.

"Hey! HEY! I think that one is awake," One of the 2 tentacled creatures said. A group of humans and creatures saw him peeking from his bed, his eyes half open. They rushed over. Scared, the boy quickly shut his eyes and tried to best pretend he was still sleeping, as the creatures stood over him.

"Looks like a false alarm. Let's get these last few pods opened," a human wearing a lab coat said. Eventually, they gave up. "As for him, he looks like he is stable. You can move him to the sub now."

"Otome, can you and Frost take that one?" Drake said.

"Duno vasi uma kara nageni lova uni nan," the light blue one said.

"This coming from a guy who was bed ridden for a day from an ink strike," Otome said. The one called Frost went to the front of the stretcher, while Otome moved to the back where the boys head was. Despite being scared, his face went a little red from being that close to a girl.

Eventually, he was taken to one of the subs. They took him to a spot in the back of the sub, and put him down. He heard a plop, and saw his backpack was now next to him. The two creatures left the sub to get the rest of the sleeping humans. The boy reopened his eyes, and looked at his pack. He unzipped one of the parts, and took out his game player. Luckily, it still worked, despite being frozen for thousands of years. Though, it had only been launched several months before the floods hit.

With the console turned on, he then clicked on the title of the game that was currently inserted into the console. He decided that if he was a bit stealthy, and kept the sound turned down, he could play for a bit. He didn't know where he was or what was happening, so he played the game to help him calm down. As he waited, another mini sub left the docking bay. The one his parents had been loaded on.

After a while, he heard footsteps. The submarine he was in was now at full capacity with sleeping people. The last group of humans and creatures entered the sub, and took a seat. The one called Drake took a seat at the navigation seat, while another four tentacled creature sat at the pilot's seat. The boy quickly shut off his game, letting it rest at his side, and pretended to sleep. The one called Otome sat next to him, and the boy and girl creatures that were looking at his game player, sat across from them. "That's everyone. Set course to Eden, Tanner. We're done here."

"Bout time! This back and fourth routine is getting old. You know, some of the girls we rescued were pretty cute. Think some of them will be feeling appreciative?" Drake gave him a blank stare, then rolled his eyes. The sub left the dock, and moved to the open sea. After a while, the sub rose back to the surface, and came to a halt.

"We're here. Let's start unloading them," the white coat human from before said. The creatures and humans started taking the sleeping ones away, and they were rapidly emptying out the sub. The boy saw that they were at some sort of docks, which was in front of a facility. When the two tentacled boy and girl came to take him, they noticed the game system that he forgot to put in his backpack. He felt a hand taking it, and he slowly opened his eyes. The creatures were observing and looking at it. "Sweet! Check it out, Shara! It's that game player thing I saw earlier!"

"Seriously, Levin? That's rude, you know. Besides, we need to get him inside so that human doctor can check him out."

"We got a few minutes, don't we? Besides, he's way behind as it is," Levin responded, and turned the system on. Inside, the boy was beginning to panic. What if they were to take it away or break it? Break one of his most loved possessions? He watched the creatures as they managed to turn it on. He just wanted, right then and there, to jump up and yank it right out of their hands, but fear stopped him. One of the controllers slid off the console. The blue creature yelped and quickly caught it before it hit the floor. Shara, the orange one, laughed at the sight.

"Seriously, put that away before you get us in trouble, you dork." Then, after looking through it for a bit longer, they put it back next to the boy. He let out a faint sigh, and calmed down a bit. He then closed his eyes again, after seeing Drake put the console back in his backpack. The boy, along with his possessions, were then taken out of the sub and wheeled into the Eden facility.

"This one's a kid, so take him right to medical," Drake said. Shara and Levin took the boy to another part of the base that looked like a hospital room. After setting him down, the two creatures left the room, and the boy opened his eyes.

"Oh, he's already awake. That's a good sign. Another human wearing a white uniform walked up to him. "My name is Doctor Harkov. How are you feeling."

"I... I don't know..." The boy responded.

"Harkov, he's obviously confused," A female voice said. He looked to the right, and saw a woman smiling at him. "My name is Fong. What's yours?" She asked.

"M-mark," the boy said. Harkov then gave the boy an examination.

"Physically, he's okay, and probably the healthiest one I've seen come out of there. Fong, why don't you take him somewhere more quiet, and see if he's... you know, stable."

"You really could do with some finesse, Harkov," Fong responded. She took Mark's hand, and lead him to the agridome. "Sorry about that. You must be vary confused. Not to mention, hungry." Mark went red, as his stomach growled.

"W-where are we? What were those creatures?" He asked. Fong gave him an apple, and he eagerly started munching on it.

"You've been brought to the Eden facility. A place that was designed to save the last of the humans. Like the one you came out of," she responded. "Oh, and this is the agridome. It's where we grow our food."

"So what... about..."

"Ah, right. First I should tell you that it's been... well, twelve thousand years since you were put in stasis." Mark stopped eating, and gave her a stunned look. "It's true. As for those people you saw, well, they are evolved squids and Octopi. The ones with two large tentacles and four small, are called Inklings. The ones with four, are Octolings."

"Inklings... Octolings... Are they.. dangerous?"

"Not any more or less than a human. You just need to get to know them. Oh, speak of the devil. Here comes the perfect pair to introduce you to." Mark looked over, and saw two Inkling females coming towards him. They looked a little older than the ones on the sub. One was wearing a pink dress, and the other was wearing green.

"Oh, who is this little cutie?" The one with black tentacles said with a grin. The two large pointed teeth on the sides of her mouth, and the one in the middle, made mark gasp.

"Callie! You're scaring him!" The milky tentacled one said. "Sorry, little guy. I promise that she doesn't bite. What's your name?"

"M-mark," he responded with a red face.

"That's a cute name," Callie responded. "Are we the first Inklings you've met?"

"I... saw a few on the sub but.. I was scared to..." The boy paused for a minute.

"That's quite alright," The green dressed one responded. "What about the Octolings?"

"I just heard the name of one. I think it was.. Oto.. Otome? She looked like she was.. nice."

"Oh! She's one of my best friends!" Callie said. "I guess that means you know Drake, too. He's my brother, you know." Mark gave her another stunned look.

"Don't listen to her," The green one said with a smirk. "Just a little misguided... adult stuff."

"Girls, don't you think you are getting a bit off topic?" Fong said.

"Whoopsie! Hey, Mark, I'm Callie! She's Marie, my cousin."

"I... nice.. to meat you?"

"We're singers, actually," Marie said. "We came here to perform for the humans, and help them get them to understand their situation. W-would you like to hear a song?" Mark looked over at Fong, and she smiled at him. Mark nodded his head, and the girls started singing a slow song. The same song that had saved Drake, weeks ago. Little by little, Mark's fear began to dissipate. He even started to smile.

"That.. was beautiful," Mark said when the song ended. "C-can you tell me more? About your people?"

**2- The damned city**

It was now two months since the incident. For Inkopolis, Octoburg, and the E.C.S., things were slowly improving, and tensions were quieting down. In fact, the largest complaint for the humans, was that the defense force had been bored out of their minds when they weren't vacationing to the other capital cities.

However, a day ago, the E.C.S. had received an unknown signal that originated from a place that had been thought to have been wiped off the map. Unfortunately, the signal's origin was also a considerable distance from Eden and required crossing the ocean. Since the two helicopters were still out of commission, the humans had to ask for help from the other races. While the skeptical Inkling chancellor saw no value in such an expedition, Emperor Octurus was eager to lend aid to the humans, and had lent them an airship.

"I can't believe the Inklings passed up this opportunity," Kelly said, as she observed the ruins around her. "Seeing these elder race ruins... This pales in comparison to what Ceph had been built around." Kelly, who had been assigned to lead the Octarian expedition team, had pulled a few strings to get her old team together. Accompanying her, was Otome, Briki, Tanner, and Yako, along with a few airship crewmen.

"His hardheadedness, is going to cost him, one day," Marie responded. Despite the Inklings refusing to offer any official help, the squid sisters had decided to ride along. "This is so much more amazing than anything we dug up."

"Don't know why you're so impressed by the highway," Drake said. "We haven't even reached the city yet."

"But it's so exciting!" Callie squealed. "Besides, it's been forever since we all got together for an adventure!"

"Sheesh, Callie. When did we ever have anything called an adventure? I wouldn't call fighting for my life anything but a nightmare," Otome said.

"But because of that, we made so many friends! And the four of us became a family!" Callie responded. Despite the things that went on between them, Otome, Callie, and Marie had pretty much turned the squid sisters into am unofficial trio. Add Drake already having a strong bond with both Callie and Marie.

"Well, I for one, would like to forget all of that, and just enjoy our little excursion," Kelly said. It had been over an hour since they had left the Eden facility. They walked along an ancient highway, mostly buried and covered by soil. The remains of wrecked cars peeked out from hills of dirt and other debris. Drake suddenly tripped over a rusty iron bar that was partly buried.

"You okay?" The concerned Otome asked. Drake nodded in response. Pulling it out of the ground, Drake glanced at the bar. 'U.S. Route 101', it read, though part of the sign was peeled off. They moved on, and the surroundings began to change. In the distance, destroyed neighborhoods were obscured by plant life and greenery. Corroding military vehicles parked on the side of the highway, and there was even a battle tank at one army blockade. Eventually, they entered the ruins of a diner at a truck stop, where there were remains of large transport trucks. The group decided to stop for lunch.

"Hope you like it! Sis stayed up and took cooking lessons from me!" Yako said.

"Y-you shut up, Yako!" Otome said, and went red in the face. She handed Drake the food that she had cooked for him. He gave her a thumbs up, as he dug in.

"Ugh, nobody ever made me a lunch," Kelly complained, as the rest of the group ate the store bought food that they had brought with them.

"I think that requires you to get a boyfriend, Captain," Briki chimed in. After eating, they packed up and moved on. Due to lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water submerging the highway, they would have to take a detour, but finally, they arrived at the city outskirts. Drake saw a massive sign that had fallen to the ground and obscured by plant life. '101 North' was the words there were on it, behind the decaying and rot. Sweating and tired, he leaned against a broken streetlight that was covered by vines and that stuck out like a sore thumb in the scenery. However, he quickly backed up from it as it began to squeak and lean, and then fell over.

"SHIT! Sometimes I forget just how old these are." Just a short walk away, was a collapsed overpass that stood at the shores of a large river, which separated the ancient city from the mainland. Drake, walking to the edge of the crumbling overpass, observed the wreckage of a old tanker, lying partly buried on the beach. Across the river, they could see the towering, crumbling shells of ancient human skyscrapers and the two fallen bridges that used to define it. "Never in my life, did I think I would be back here," Drake said, with a scowl.

"What do you mean? What's wrong, Drake?" Callie asked with concern.

"This city... I came here once with my father. This is where my sister was killed."

"O-oh. I.."

"It's okay, Callie." Drake said, and patted her head, which earned a glare from Otome. "I've gotten over it. But even before then, this city was... well, it was the poster child for human arrogance and hypocrisy." Looking away, Drake saw a motorboat that had washed up on the beach, and boarded it. He started it up to see if it still worked, and surprisingly enough, it was still in usable condition. "I think we can use this. Kelly, can you call for a pick up?"

"Well, you're the expert," she responded, and called the airship. After a few minutes, the airship arrived, and collected the boat with its crane, along with the team.

"Tanner, Set course for the city," Kelly said.

"Oh yes, boss lady! Gonna make me stay on the ship again?" He replied.

"You're the damn pilot!" Tanner moved the airship to the suburb area, and Drake signaled that he wanted to be dropped off with the boat.

"That water is definitely going to be polluted, and I know how toxic it is to you guys. I'll need one person who knows how to drive come with me, but the rest should stay behind," he said.

"I guess that disqualifies Callie," Marie cut in, and got a surprisingly dirty look from her cousin. "Tanner is obviously needed to fly this thing, so that means I'm probably the only other one who even has a license." The two got back on the boat, and signaled the crane operator to lower them into the flooded streets.

"Be careful down there," Otome said.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of your boyfriend," Marie responded with her signature smirk. The boat was lowered, and Drake showed Marie how to work the controls, while they moved on.

In the suburbs of the former city, the scenery became radically different, with many forests throughout, and the concrete streets that weren't completely submerged, are now obscured by planet life. Houses had collapsed and many were buried beneath hills of dirt. Rusty skeletons and remains of cars were everywhere. Most of the area, however, was now part of a large lake. "Keep heading in your current direction," Drake said.

Further into the metropolis, where there are collapsed and sinking steel shells of old skyscrapers, the streets are all dozens of feet underwater, covered by many layers of soil and preserving many things, as the ocean has grown to flood the downtown area. Old human military APCs are often around, and helicopters are strewn across the area. Sometimes, skeletons wearing decaying army uniforms were found.

"So, how are things going with Otome?" Marie asked, as she piloted the boat.

"Slow, but that's to be expected. As I thought, our relationship isn't too popular, especially with the humans," Drake responded. He was standing guard at the bow and scanning for threats.

"Can't speak for the humans, but some of the Inkling girls are probably just upset that they couldn't score the mysterious elder race guy for themselves. Though, the guys are probably just happy that you aren't going out with Marie or Callie." A sudden voice from behind said, and made them both jump.

"Neptune? What the hell are you doing here?" Marie said with a wide eyed look.

"I needed a day off from school, so I stowed away," Neptune responded with a cheeky grin. "So, Drake, gimme the juicy details!"

"There's nothing else to tell. I mean, you already saw us kiss," Drake said, with a sigh. "I'm surprised at the resistance from the Octarians, though. Octurus seems to support us, but the rest of the government has been rather... openly hostile."

"It might be because of Octarias' people. Remember what he said back at the fortress?" Marie said.

"That may be true. All the reason to go slow and stay conservative. But that's fine. I prefer to not rush a relationship." Drake stopped when he saw a half submerged building that sparked his curiosity. "Marie, stop here."

"What are you going to do?" She asked. "Don't tell me you are going for a swim."

"That's why I brought this." Drake opened up a metal box that he had brought from the Eden facility. Inside, was diving gear, a spear gun, a few small explosives, and a pack of flares. Drake put on the equipment, then placed the autotran, datapad, and other electronics into a water tight case.

"Ru uni kamen mehi ra guna ami nah?" He heard Marie say. Drake quickly put the autotran back in place.

"What was that? I can't keep the autotran in place while I'm in the water."

"I said, what should I do? Do you want me to wait here?" Marie responded.

"If I need a pick up, just look for the flares."

"Hey, while you're down there, be sure to bring me-" Neptune started to say, but Drake took the autotran back out. "Zhu mehn le suma. Woomy!" Drake dove in. The spear gun proved to be unnecessary, as the water was mostly devoid of life, say for some smaller fish species.

Eventually, he made his way the lower area of the building and finds a latched door. Using one of the explosives, he breaks it down, but this causes water to begin flooding a long, collapsed stairway. However, the rush and pressure of the water ends up weakening the roof of the destroyed underground hallway, causing it to collapse. Tons of soil and debris pile up in the hallway, blocking off the water flow. With only half the hallway filled with water, Drake continues on, and eventually passes through a damaged doorway and into the ruins of another room.

Inside, there are several crashed machines and computers. Parts of the ceiling are slanting down, and water droplets leak through, forming puddles on the floor. In one corner of the room is a fallen table, with a small battered container on it. Drake moved through the weeds and plants that had grown in the room, and opened the container, revealing it to be a small black box with a media disc in it. Taking out his datapad, he checked to see if the disc was compatible, then he inserts it. A recording begins play, as small screeches of static faded in. The transcription goes as follows:

Adam Clark: "So Rob, who signed up for our project?"

Robert Alam: "According to the list and applications, 4 new people joined. Alex, Bennett, Conrad, and Dallis. 2 have experience in paramedics, one as a prison guard, and one as an attorney. They all passed, and they should be arriving at our shelter here in just a few days."

Adam Clark: "Great! That's fantastic! We have also collected many items and objects, and are now storing them in the cryo lab. The postcards, flags, and books are in good condition after a few days of being in there."

Robert Alam: "Alright. Good. I'm still having a bit of a quarrel with Dr. Jan over the %&$%& base, so we may have to possibly consider replacing her with someone else."

Adam Clark: "Okay. Let's hope that ends soon. She's very good at her job, I heard, so we may want to have her in the long run."

Robert Alam: "Yeah, I know, she is pretty nice, but when I confronted her about that place being her new home, she blew her top. Started ranting about how she's gonna be forever locked inside a chicken coop, and how she may die from simply being in there."

Adam Clark: "Wow. Jan is usually pretty calm, but she really must have lost touch from hearing you say that. But still, if she hasn't noticed, we are now endangered. The oceans are growing dramatically and society is collapsing. Gangs and bandits are practically running all over now, and our guards on the surface have to be armored from head to toe and equipped with our best guns."

Robert Alam: "Of course. In fact, that was one of the main reasons we constructed that facility. To be prepared and stay safe when our time completely runs out, and we can't rely on Eden's success. I swear, whenever I look at our security camera above ground in the studio, the sea in the distance seems to grow higher and higher. It has practically drowned the beaches and much of the coastline. That's called a clusterf&#%"

Adam Clark: "Speaking of which, when I was driving around a week ago, many roads leading to the city were submerged, and the coastal houses were all underwater! Debris was practically piling up against a bridge!"

The recording then ended, and Drake removed the disc. Drake then walked and looked around, seeing all the rubble and some skeletons lying against the wall, some armed with guns and knifes. Not seeing anything else noteworthy, Drake then leaves the room and enters another, which appeared to be an atrium. Many skeletons practically littered the floor, some holding grenades, pistols, and machine guns.

There were numerous holes and ditches in the ground, with many more bullet holes in the walls. On one side of the room, there appeared to be a double door, except now only debris and rubble filled the doorway, blocking off a section of the facility. There were vines, weeds and fungus growing in between crevices. Parts of the ceiling had collapsed, creating mounds of rubble. There were also two elevated walkways on either side of the room, allowing access to many other rooms above. However, both walkways had fallen. This building should have collapsed long ago.

Drake scaled the deteriorating wall, keeping his hands and feet lodged into small crevices and holes, and eventually got onto a small portion of the elevated walkway that hasn't collapsed. Facing a mossy and cracked armored door, he then sees a computer terminal next to it, still mysteriously working and operating after 12,000 years. Or so he thought. The screen went white, and burst into a shower of sparks. With luck, the door opened on its own.

The room is full of ruined computer terminals and has a decayed bunk bed. On the bed, though, is another small black box, having many small scratches and dents on it. Drake opened it, and takes out another small disc. Then he inserted it into his data pad. The transcription of the media disc is as follows:

Robert Alam: "You wanted to talk, so talk."

Janice Camden:"Don't speak to me like that, Rob. I'm pretty sure you know why I despise you with a passion."

Robert Alam: "Look, Jan, it's for your own good. Yes, that place will be your new home and you will be meeting foreign people and you will be sleeping in an untested cryo pod, but it's heck of a lot better than that hellhole above. At least you don't have to fear for your life down there, unlike our security force, or those who will be remaining here."

Janice Camden: "I still don't want to be down there. If I really feared for my life, I could just live in a house in the mountains, away from all the oceans and misery!"

Robert Alam: "Are you serious, woman... *sigh*" *sound of door opening, footsteps are heard*

Adam Clark: "Rob, we got some reports of incidents above ground in the city. Here's some papers." *sounds of paper are heard landing on the table*

Robert Alam: "Adam, please, just go away, not right now."

Adam Clark: "Oh, um.. sure." *door closes*

Robert Alam: *sighs, sounds of papers rustling* "Gangs invade suburbs, capture dozens... military forms blockade around major base... local nuclear reactor goes on meltdown, bathes much of the area in radiation, terrorist operatives are suspected... see, look. Are there any more reasons I need to present to you to prove that you will just be exterminated the moment you leave us?"

Janice Camden: "You know, I'm becoming real tired of your bullcrap, Robert. I used to look up to you, and now you want us to jump into bed with the technology we stole from Project Eden."

Robert Alam: "SINCE WHEN DID I MENTION PROJECT EDEN?! We have no relation to them! Besides, Manfred, the cryogen creator, used to be one of our own! This is simply just to protect all of us and our own families and friends from doom. Eden is a massive operation for the gifted few, and those lucky enough to win the lottery and have the right connections. We aren't following the old CEOs scheme anymore, either."

Janice Camden: "Maybe I should just flee and join Eden instead. They would mostly likely treat me far better than you and the others here could hardly ever do. You can go to hell, Rob. Expect my resignation by the end of the week." *footsteps, door slams, heavy breathing, another door opens*

Adam Clark: "Rob? Are you alright? I heard yelling."

Robert Alam: "Please, Adam... just... just leave me alone..." *door closes, and disc recording ends*

Drake ejected the disc from the datapad, and then placed it in its box. He scaled back down the wall, and entered the first room, taking the previous disc with him. Heading back to the atrium, he passed through several of the doorways, as all of the rooms were destroyed.

When he entered one room, however, there was a series of lockers. Most of them were empty. However, one contained a black, menacing flamethrower. This appeared to be an armory, but nearly all of the weapons hae been looted. Most of the room had collapsed, with rubble now formed like a hill, descending into a big pool of contaminated water.

"W-what the hell? Why are more of our cryo pods here?" The last room was pretty much a giant time capsule, and also seemed to be the source of the signal that they had received. Cryo pods lined the walls. Recovering from the shock, Drake opened each one, as they contained various human items, all preserved through the ages. The first one had food, such as sodas and burgers, rice and beans, fries and biscuits. Drake was tempted to try some, but didn't trust that they would edible.

The next one had many famous novels and books. From religious books, like the Bible, to kids books. There were vast varieties, all well preserved. "Some of us might like these. There might even be a few that we don't have in the library," Drake said.

The third pod had national flags in them. The United States, UK, France, Russia, China, Japan... flags of the old world. There were more books beneath, all the histories of these nations. Revolutions, wars, political parties, famous leaders. Though, most of these were already in the E.C.S. library computer.

The fourth pod had malfunctioned. When Drake opened it, he discovered a skeleton inside, wielding a shotgun. "Looks like he got desperate. Can't say I blame him," Drake said, noticing that most of the contents had been removed from the pod.

The fifth pod had postcards of famous cities and monuments on them. The Great Pyramids, Big Ben, the Great Wall of China, the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, the Space Needle, the Golden Gate Bridge. "The Inklings and Octarians would probably like to see these."

The sixth pod had biographies and photos of famous celebrities, to the greatest artists and thinkers. "Useless, but I should get some pictures."

The seventh and eighth pods were both destroyed.

The ninth pod had music records and disks in them. Pop music, to classics with pianos, violins and cannons. In the corner of the cryo pod however, was something unusual. There was a disc labeled ' RECORDING 30 '. Drake, nervous from the conversation in the previous disc recording, placed the new disc into his datapad. Immediately, dire voices played.

Adam Clark: "Rob, we got some bad news."

Robert Alam: "What is it now, Adam? Another attack, or what?"

Adam Clark: "It's about one of our new recruits, Dallis. You know, the new surgeon for us? He died yesterday while on his way here. That's why he never arrived here last night."

Robert Alam: "Wait, really? What happened?"

Adam Clark: "Well, his van was discovered completely wrecked and overturned in a ditch alongside the freeway. However, his body was missing."

Robert Alam: "Seriously? How?"

Adam Clark: "We have no idea whatsoever. Our team just found his car, and he was not inside. It's possible that he may have been kidnapped shortly after the crash or something. We did manage to recover a video diary though. Do you wanna play it?"

Robert Alam: "Yes, of course. I want answers." *sound of a disc being loaded into television, voice immediately comes on with the sound of driving*

Dallis Connor: "I guess today's the day I begin my new job and life at the %#$#$ underU&^(& facility. Man... I hope everything goes well there. The world's descending into chaos, and I definitely don't want to get turned back there-" BANG! Drake cringed as a sound of screaming and screeching erupted over the recording.

Robert Alam: "GOOD GOD! WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! BLOODS LEAKING OUT OF HIS HEAD!" *sound of tires screeching, Dallis loses control of car* WHAM! *car smashes through guard rail, flips over and tumbles down embankment, camera flew through the air before reverting to static*

Robert Alam: "Good lord..."

Adam Clark: "I should probably go now." *door closes*

For a minute, the recording had seemed to end and cut off. When Drake was about to take it out, sound came through again.

Janice Camden: "I don't care who you think you are! I don't want to be here anymore! We've been stuck down here for who knows how long! Look at our surface cam! The entire street is underwater! There's no Eden anymore, no authority anymore, no NOTHING anymore! We sure as hell can't get to our *#$#*%# facility, assuming its still there. Don't you get it, Rob? We're done. Humanity's done. We might be all that's left. And you want us to stay the rest of our lives down here?! We will die off, anyways!"

Robert Alam: "Why don't you wake up, Jan? It's possible that there are more people inland, and we don't know that our main project failed! Stop holding doubt. You'll collapse from it."

Adam Clark: "Rob, in case you're curious, here's an updated map of the current world, from the information satellites could hold." *Florida and much of the southeastern coast of America is underwater, the entire eastern seaboard is gone, California's Central Valley is now a bay, most of Europe has disappeared, Most of Japan's submerged, a giant sea has formed in southern China thus sinking Hong Kong, Australia has a new inland sea, etc.*

Robert Alam: "Good lord. Nearly all of the world's major cities have now disappeared."

Janice Camden: "See?! Do you see what the world has come to?!"

Robert Alam: "Shut it, Jan. There's still hope. It's possible that humanity fled to the mountains. None of us want to end up like Dr. Orwell."

Adam Clark: "I wish you two would stop fighting. We need to stay together if we are going to survive, and I don't deny its a shame on what happened to Dr. Orwell."

Janice Camden: "You are all crazy. At first, I thought you were just driven... but I was wrong... you're absolutely crazy. THOSE PODS WILL NOT WORK! And I can't handle you anymore. I'm getting out of this hell. I'm sick of being trapped down here while waiting until you snap."

Robert Alam: "Get away from the door controls, Janice. I'm not kidding"

Janice Camden: "A gun?! So what are you gonna do? Are you going to shoot me now? Well, I have said it before, and I will say it again. Go to hell, Robert." *BANG!* "AGGGHHHHHHH!" *BANG! BANG!*

Adam Clark: "OH MY GOD! You... you killed her. She's...she's gone."

Robert Alam: "I had to do it, Adam. She left me no choice. Now let's clean up this mess and get back to work." *recording ends*

Drake was completely stunned by what happened. "This is insane. What the hell... who are..." Drake stopped, and finally noticed the faded symbol on the wall. "Wait... TECHNODYNE! Why didn't I notice before? This is their main office." He stopped and looked down. "This must have been what happened to those who stayed behind." Then he remembered something. Back at the underwater facility, he had found a similar disc, but hadn't had time to study its contents at the time, and had forgotten about it. He quickly inserted the disc, and the next recording began.

Candice Diane: "Alissa? Would you mind looking at this?"

Alissa Dwight: "What is it?" *footsteps*

Candice Diane: "We recently collected some marine life in order to study the effects of pollution on them. We have a octopus, a squid, and a crab. We are picking up some bizarre readings. They appear to be mutating. Evolving. Though, the process seems to be very slow, and I doubt we will see any major changes in our life time."

Alissa Dwight: "What? No way."

Candice Diane: "They appear to have some sorta... virus or mutagen substance in them, and it's causing them to change. Again, it's very slow, but we have found increased intelligence, growth, and strength."

Alissa Dwight: "Wow, that's incred-" The rest of the disk ended up being corrupted, but these were no doubt all from Technodyne staff.

Drake took all the discs he collected and placed them in the water tight box, with the hope of taking them back to the Eden facility in order to show them to the others. He also begins placing some of the 12,000 year old relics inside, taking the food, books, music, and postcards. Once that is done, one question remains.

"Now how the hell do I get out of here?" Seeing an emergency exit with a skeleton desperately trying to open the barged door, he proceeds to throw the skeleton aside and passed through the doorway. This was an elevator, but it has since been destroyed and has been rotting away. However, there was also a ladder. He ventures upwards, occasionally having to climb across the cracking concrete walls. He makes it to the top, emerging in a deteriorating office building, on a floor that's just above the waves. Drake lit one of the flares, and started waving it. After a few minutes, Marie drove the boat under him, and he jumped aboard. The two Inklings waited for him to put the autotran back into place.

"I was starting to worry about you, Drake. You okay?" Marie asked.

"A bit shaken, but I'll live."

"Sooooo... What did yah find? What did you bring me?" Neptune asked, as she leaned in.

"More than I would have wanted," Drake responded, and recounted the story. They were quite shock to learn about the recordings, but there eyes lit up with amazement when they saw the artifacts that Drake had brought back. Though, Drake had to cut show and tell short, when Neptune tried to nab one of the post cards.

"We got a bit more time for sightseeing, if you two are up for it," Marie said.

"Heck yeah! Let's see what other cool stuff we can find!" Neptune responded. They continued on for a while, until they spotted an island in the middle of the flooded terrain. They parked the boat at the edges, and disembarked. Scanning the place, they saw ancient ruins of houses, as nearly the whole area has been swallowed up by new world plant life. As they ventured through the place, they saw the rusted remains of cars and places where there were once buildings. At the top of the island stood the bottom of an old tower, with its remains scattered across the hill. The hill was a great vantage point, and from the data he gathered, Drake discovered it to be the Coit Tower.

"Interesting," Drake said, after taking a few pictures. "I'll always hate this city, but these will keep the people back home occupied for some time. Let's try somewhere else." Leaving the tower behind, they walked through the vast forests that now covered the region. When traveling down an ancient winding street, they then found a rusted bus, torn in half. All of the seating was gone, and it was littered with human remains.

"Yeah, let's keep moving," Marie said, and turned away. Leaving the bus behind, Drake saw a Project Eden billboard. Although much of the sign had decayed and peeled off, he could still see the Eden logo on it. It was meant to give people hope, but likely had the opposite effect on those left behind.

"This is boring! Let's look inside one of the buildings," Neptune said. They decided to enter one of the old houses. Inside the first room, there was a fridge, a fireplace, a work bench, and several useful tools. While looking at an automatic rifle lying on a table, they suddenly heard footsteps behind him. Taking out their weapons, they peered in the direction of the sound, and saw several figures walking towards the teams' direction. The figures appeared to be an Inkling, along with several Octolings.

"What? Octolings and Inklings here? What's going on?" Marie whispered.

"I don't know, but I think it's time we make an exit. Who knows how the people here developed," Drake said. They turned to leave, but Neptune tripped and made a loud sound just as the figures came in. The figures quickly grabbed several machine guns from the table.

"WH053 TH3r3?" came a garbled voice. As the figure turned near the light illuminating the room, it was now clear that they were definitely Inklings and Octolings. Why it lived out here and knew how to use a human firearm were two questions that they wouldn't get answers to anytime soon. The group started to run, just as the Inkling saw them and aimed at them "Y0u! H41t!" The Inkling yelled. He then proceeded to pull the trigger on his machine gun, unleashing a torrent of bullets at them. Drake fired back a few times to cover their retreat.

They ran and barely avoided the projectiles, hearing the bullets ricochet off plates of metal and rust. The Oceanics went after them, while shouting and rapidly firing their guns. When they got out of the house, the Inkling fired one burst of bullets at Drake, before grumbling and walking away. The group quickly jumped on the boat, and sped away from the house. "W... what the hell?" Marie said, and panted heavily after having escaped death.

"Why are they using human weapons? As far as I know, only Drake's girlfriend can do that," Neptune said.

"Did you hear them talk? Their dialect was broken, and the autotran couldn't pick it up," Drake responded. "I think it's definitely safe to say, that these aren't the same people as our friends back home."

"Maybe they came to rely on human artifacts more than we did? I mean, they are in the middle of a city. It might have influenced their language, too," Marie said.

"Perhaps, but I think it's time we get out of here," Drake said.

"Ah, but I didn't get any cool treasure!" Neptune complained, as Marie called the airship.

"We can't say it was a total waste. We did get more information about Technodyne. Plus the relics, and I got a bunch of pictures," Drake said. After a while, they could see the round ship floating towards them. Before leaving, Drake noticed a large red bridge in the distance. He took out one of the post cards, and compared the two. It was a match. Drake quickly took a picture of the bridge, as the crane grabbed hold of the boat.

"I bet you'll will be happy to get back to Otome," Marie said, giving him the smirk.

"You can say that again, but honestly, I would even take resurrecting Mclarrin or hanging out with foreman Salazar, over setting foot in that city ever again." Drake responded. The crane lifted them up, and they boarded the airship. Joining their friends, they began the long journey home.

**A\N: And with that, The Legacy of Humanity is now complete.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A\N: And with that, The Legacy of Humanity is now complete.


End file.
